Battle: New York
by singntheshower
Summary: Finn Hudson has just returned from the army and reconnected with his best friend, Rachel. Their relationship intensifies just as bombs start falling from the sky. Now rated T so that it wouldn't be deleted.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Here's a new story for you guys! It's completely A/U. I haven't read anything like it before (at least not featuring Finchel!). I really hope you like it; the only way I'll know you like it is if you leave tons and tons of reviews! And I don't own anything.

Battle: New York

Chapter One

Finn Hudson looked over the heads of all his fellow soldiers that were coming home, trying to spot his mom. It was nice to see all the other families being reunited, but he really wanted to get the hell out of here, go home, and change into some normal clothes. It's not like Finn didn't like being in the army – but after three years being deployed, you started to crave some sense of normalcy.

He adjusted the strap of his duffel bag over his shoulder, craning his neck left and right, trying to spot Carole. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime of searching, he saw his mom standing by a pillar in the crowded airport. Her gaze met his and she started crying instantly. Finn broke out into a wide smile and rushed toward her.

"Sweetie!" she sobbed, pulling him in for a hug.

"Hey, mom," he replied, hugging her tightly. She let go of him and reached up to cup his cheek.

"You look so much older," she said with a watery smile.

"It's been three years since you saw me," he said with a chuckle.

"That's not true. We video chatted every two weeks," she reminded him.

"Yeah, but those cameras are kind of crappy," he said, shrugging.

"Whatever you say, Finn," Carole said with a smile. "Let's get you home." Hearing this made Finn smile widely.

-glee-glee-glee-

"So how's Rachel doing?" Finn asked from the passenger seat. "She didn't return my last couple of letters."

"She's actually living at our house now," Carole said. From her tone, Finn could tell that something was off.

"Why? What happened?" Finn asked.

"Hiram died, sweetie," Carole said quietly. Finn's eyes grew wide. Of course she didn't return his letters after losing her dad.

"When?"

"Six months ago. It was colon cancer," she explained.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"That's not something you can just put in a letter, Finn. I thought you should find out face to face."

"But what about Leroy? Why did she move out if her other dad's still there?" Finn asked, feeling confused.

"He's not there, Finn," Carole said.

"Why not?"

"Right after Rachel graduated in May, Leroy left with a boyfriend. We found out shortly before the funeral that he had been seeing this man while Hiram was sick," Carole said, trying to keep her emotions in check.

"God," Finn moaned. "Is she okay?"

"I don't know most days. She got a job in Brooklyn working as a waitress. She said it kept her busy."

"What about NYADA? She was so excited when she got in," Finn said.

"She wants to take some time off before college. She has to save up some money, too. Leroy took everything with him," Carole said.

"What an ass," Finn said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I agree with you. You should have seen Rachel explode when Leroy showed up to the funeral with his boyfriend. I've never seen her so angry," Carole commented. "She's not exactly the same best friend you left behind, Finn." Finn nodded in understanding, suddenly regretting leaving in the first place.

He and Rachel had been best friends for as long as he could remember. He and his mom had moved to New York after his dad died in Desert Storm. Finn was five when he first met two year old Rachel Berry and her fathers – their neighbors. From that point on, Finn and Rachel had grown inseparable despite their three year age difference. After hearing about how much she had been through while he was gone, he wished that he could have been there for her. In fact, she was all he could think about when he was away. He always wondered what she was doing or what song she might have been singing. He finally had the chance to find out for himself; he had three years of missed time to make up for.

He remembered the route to his house as if he had never left. They lived in the suburbs of New York, away from the sirens and loud people. They pulled up to his house and he was glad to see that nothing had really changed.

"The yard looks good," he commented, fully expecting to see a jungle.

"Rachel's amazing at yard work," Carole said. "She planted those tulips herself," Carole said, motioning to the beautiful pink and white tulips once she parked the car in the driveway.

"Those are her favorites," Finn said with a smile.

"I'm surprised you remembered that," Carole replied.

"It's hard to forget Rachel Berry and her flower preferences, especially after she made you memorize a list of her favorite things," Finn said with a chuckle.

"She made you do that, too?" Carole said with a laugh.

"Of course she did," Finn said.

"Well, let's go say hi," Carole said, climbing out of the car. Finn got out of the car and slung his duffel bag over shoulder and followed his mom into the house. He smiled when he heard Rachel's incredible voice filling the house.

_Oh my man I love him so _

_He'll never know_

_All my life is just despair_

_But I don't care_

_When he takes me in his arms _

_The world is bright, alright _

_What's the difference if I say _

_I'll go away _

_When I know I'll come back _

_On my knees someday _

_For whatever my man is _

_I am his _

_Forevermore_

_Oh my man I love him so _

_He'll never know_

_All my life is just despair_

_But I don't care_

_When he takes me in his arms _

_The world is bright, alright _

_What's the difference if I say _

_I'll go away _

_When I know I'll come back _

_On my knees someday _

_For whatever my man is _

_I am his _

_Forevermore_

Finn and his mom just stood there, listening to Rachel with smiles on their faces.

"Rachel, honey? We're home," Carole called. They heard the sink turn off and heard footsteps coming toward them. Finn set his bag down on the ground. When he looked up, his eyes bugged out.

It was the same Rachel Berry, but now she was _hot_. She was wearing short jean shorts that made her legs look miles long. The t-shirt she was wearing accentuated boobs that he was sure didn't exist when he left three years ago.

"Finn!" she shouted happily before practically throwing herself into his arms. She was only five feet tall and so tiny that it was no problem for him to catch her easily. He hugged her back tightly with a wide smile on his face.

"It's so good to see you, Rach," he said into her ear.

"You, too!" she said. Finn set her back on her feet. "You look even taller than before. I feel like a munchkin!"

"You haven't grown at all, have you?" he asked with a smile.

"Sadly, no," she said with a pout. "But Kurt has told me that my fashion sense has improved with my age."

He looked down at her red t-shirt. "I kinda miss the animal sweaters," he said with a chuckle.

"Don't worry, I kept a few," she said with a smile. "And dinner's already started. I have steaks marinating in the fridge and I plan on making your favorite banana bread for dessert."

"Sounds perfect," Finn said with a smile.

"You didn't have to do that, Rachel," Carole said with a smile.

"I wanted to for Finn's homecoming," Rachel replied.

"Hand me your things, Finn, and I'll throw the dirty things in the washer," Carole said.

"I can do it, mom," Finn protested.

"I finally got my baby back. Now let me spoil you, okay?" she said with a smile.

Finn chuckled. "If you say so," he said with a shrug. He handed his duffel to his mom. She kissed him on the cheek before walking into the laundry room.

"I grabbed you some beers from work since you're 21 now. I thought you'd like to drink one with dinner," Rachel said.

"I thought you worked at a restaurant. Don't they have strict rules and stuff?" Finn asked.

"I told Carole that I worked at a restaurant. It's actually kind of a… bar. I didn't want her to worry," Rachel said quietly. "The tips are better."

"I bet," Finn said with a chuckle. "Well, let me get out of this uniform and I'll be back down, okay?"

"I'll be here," she said with a smile. Finn went up the stairs quickly and changed into some basketball shorts and his favorite McKinley High School t-shirt before hanging his uniform up in his closet. He looked around his room once it was put away. Everything was just as he left it. Even his drumsticks were in their usual place on his drums. He smiled, truly happy to be home.

He then went back downstairs and heard his mom pulling out of the driveway. "Where's she going?" he asked Rachel, who was sitting on the couch.

"She went to get your favorite potato chips," Rachel said with a laugh. "She wants everything to be perfect."

"I'm home," he said, plopping onto the couch and putting his feet up on the coffee table. "Everything's already perfect."

Rachel smiled at him before reaching over and kissing him on the cheek. "I really missed you. Things haven't been easy without you around," she said.

"Mom told me about your dads. I'm sorry," he said more quietly.

Rachel nodded. "It sucked. I mean, it still sucks. Some days I just want to curl up in a ball and cry," she said, glancing at Finn. "But I don't. Dad wouldn't want me to be miserable. Especially over that lying, cheating piece of crap."

"I'm really sorry that I haven't been here for you," Finn said. "It kills me that you had to go through that on your own."

"Your mom was there for me. She's been incredible. I owe her so much," Rachel said. "And to be honest, I was pissed at you for the longest time for leaving. I mean, I couldn't even think about you without wanting to throw something."

"Sorry," Finn said in a small voice.

"Don't be. It was hard for a while, but now I understand why you did what you did. I admire you for that," she said with a small smile.

Finn smiled. "I just felt like the army was something I had to do. Does that make sense?" he asked, glancing at her again.

"I think it makes perfect sense," Rachel replied.

"Alright. Enough with the sad stuff," Finn said, sitting up straighter. "What have you been up to, Rach? Any boyfriend or anything?"

"There was one guy, but he turned out to be an asshole," Rachel said with a shrug.

"What do you mean?" Finn asked.

"Let's just say that he didn't know what the word 'no' meant," she said with a smile. "I got to use my rape whistle. He still has trouble hearing."

Finn laughed and punched Rachel lightly on the shoulder. "That's my girl," he said.

Rachel smiled widely. "So what about you? Meet any nice girls in the army?"

"Nope. My platoon was all guys," Finn said.

"Oh... Quinn Fabray's been asking about you," Rachel said. "She was wondering when you got back."

"Well, she can keep wondering. I have nothing to say to her," Finn said stiffly.

"I thought you were over the whole thing with the baby?" Rachel asked.

"Rach, she tried to pawn some dude's kid off on me, acting like it was mine. That kind of stuff you don't forget," Finn said. "And knowing her, she just wants to get back with me. I'm not interested."

"Sorry I mentioned it," Rachel said in a small voice.

"Don't worry about it. You and mom are the only people I need," he said, leaning his head back against the couch, closing his eyes.

What he didn't see was Rachel smiling widely.

-glee-glee-glee-

They sat on the back porch and ate dinner together. Carole didn't question where Finn got the beers from, not that she should since he was of age. Finn wasn't that focused on his mom anyway. Rachel was the center of his attention. He couldn't help but be mesmerized by how much she had grown up. She carried herself differently now. She seemed more responsible and aware of the world than she had been before. Of course, anyone who had been through what she went through would change a little, too.

He also couldn't help but be in awe of how beautiful she was. She had always been attractive, but the last three years were really kind to her. Her hair was longer than he'd ever seen it and her skin was clear and tan and looked so soft. Her smile was as perfect and amazing as ever. And her laugh made him instantly happy.

He was a little shocked when he realized that he totally liked his best friend. And not just in the way that he just wanted to be around her. He also had the urge to kiss her.

"I have to leave for work in half an hour," she said as the sun started to set.

"Do you have to go to work tonight?" Finn asked with a frown.

"Sadly, yes," Rachel said, laughing at his expression. "But I'm off all day tomorrow. Maybe we can go do something."

"Are you taking Finn's truck or the car?" Carole asked.

"I can just take the car since Finn's back," Rachel said. "I hope you don't mind that I've been using your truck. I know it's bad for the engine if it sits there a while."

"It's no big deal," Finn said with a shrug.

"Well, I'll go get ready then," she said. "Just leave the dishes and I'll do them when I get back."

"Don't worry about it, sweetie. You baby me too much," Carole said with a smile.

"Whatever you say," Rachel replied. She stood and grabbed her plate and cup before taking it in the house.

"I'll be right back," Finn said, grabbing his plate and cup and taking it inside.

"Hey, Rach," he called before she could leave the kitchen.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Do you want a ride to work?" he asked.

"You don't have to do that, Finn. It's your first day back. Just sit home and relax," she said with a smile.

"But I want to. I haven't seen you in three freaking years, Rach! I missed you," he said. Rachel smiled sweetly at him.

"If that's really what you want to do…" she said. "But you better come inside and let me have the bartender make you a drink."

"That'd be awesome," Finn said with a smile.

Carole was more than happy that Finn was going to spend the night on the town. He changed into some jeans and a polo shirt and waited for Rachel in the living room. Carole was already getting ready for bed.

Finn was surprised when Rachel came down the stairs. She was wearing a pair of short black shorts with some Converse sneakers and a very low-cut shirt. She had a black apron in her hands that he assumed she wore for work.

"Where are your clothes?" he asked in shock.

"I know it's slightly degrading to say this, but I make more in tips if I dress this way," she said quietly. "Do I look terrible or something?"

"No!" he said quickly. "You look amazing. I just wasn't expecting it."

"Well, thank you," she said. "You look quite handsome, Mr. Hudson." Finn blushed, which made her laugh.

On the way to her job, they both sang along to the radio with the windows down like they had back when they were both in high school. Rachel's voice still knocked his socks off even though he had heard her sing thousands of times.

They were surprisingly able to find a parking spot in the crowded streets of New York on a Friday evening.

"Rachel, this isn't _kind of_ a bar. This _is_ a bar," he said, glancing at her.

"Actually, it's a sports bar," she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "The other employees are really nice. And the bar manager even lets me sneak a beer every once in a while."

"Since when do you drink?" he asked, slightly shocked.

"Since after daddy died. It helps me feel just a bit happier. Don't worry, I don't go overboard, just enough to relax," she said.

"You really have grown up, haven't you?" he said.

Rachel shrugged. "I had to," she said. Finn nodded in understanding.

The bar was actually a pretty cool spot to hang out in. There were mostly guys there, watching some baseball game on one of the many televisions in the place. Finn took a spot in the back corner, in perfect view of the television and Miss Rachel Berry. She brought him a drink first before attending to the other customers. She moved around easily and always had a friendly smile on her face. He also smiled widely when he saw that people really did leave her huge tips.

She grabbed him another beer and brought him some mozzarella sticks.

"The manager says thanks for serving your country and that it's on the house," she said with a smile.

"Tell him I said thanks," Finn said with a smirk.

"Will do," she said. "I get off in two hours. Are you just gonna stay here?"

"Yeah. I kinda like it here," he said with a shrug. Rachel smiled widely before walking off to tend to her customers.

Finn felt pretty good with the beer in his system. He was more relaxed than he had been in a long time. He quickly decided that he'd accompany Rachel to work as often as he could. He was even kind of making friends with the table of guys next to him.

Finn was surprised when Rachel came over to him and said that it was two in the morning.

"Are you ready to leave?" she asked.

"Yeah. That's fine," he said, chugging the rest of his third beer.

"Hand me your keys first," she said, holding her hand out.

"I can drive," he protested. She looked at him with that Rachel Berry glare. He reached into his pocket and grabbed the keys.

"Excellent. Let's go," she said happily. She reached out and grabbed his hand, leading him toward the front door. He smiled at the casual contact and held her hand a bit more tightly.

Finn talked a lot more on the way home, thanks to the copious amount of alcohol in his system. He kept Rachel laughing, which was one of his favorite sounds.

She pulled into the driveway, way too soon for Finn's liking.

"Ready to get to bed?" she asked after she turned the engine off. She turned and realized that Finn was staring at her. "What?" she asked.

"You're beautiful," he said unabashedly.

"Thank you, Finn," she said with a smile. "You're the sweetest." Before she could react, Finn reached across the cab of the truck and pulled Rachel in for a kiss. She was shocked at first, but then she started kissing him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him.

Then, she realized that she was kissing her best friend. The same friend that was probably kissing her just because he was slightly drunk and craving some female attention after being away for three years. She pulled away quickly.

"We can't do this, Finn," she panted.

"Why not?" he asked breathlessly.

"I'd rather not do anything with you that you wouldn't do when you're sober," she replied.

"But I like you, Rach. And I want to do this," he said, trying to lean closer.

"No, Finn," she said in a small voice, pulling away.

"Do you not like me?" he asked, sounding hurt.

Rachel giggled. "Of course I like you, Finn. I've had a crush on you since I was ten," she said, cheeks turning a little red.

"Really?" Finn asked with a smile.

"Really," she said. "If you still want to kiss me tomorrow when you're sober, we'll talk, okay?"

"Okay," Finn said with a small pout.

"Now, let's get you in bed, cowboy," she said, pulling the keys from the ignition and putting them in her pocket.

"I painted over that cowboy wallpaper my senior year," he said with a smirk.

"I know. I just like messing with you," she said with a smile, making Finn chuckle.

-glee-glee-glee-

The next morning, Finn wasn't feeling too terrible. He drank some in the army after he turned twenty one. And he wasn't exactly a saint in high school, so he had already developed a tolerance to alcohol. He just felt really tired and there was a tiny ache in his forehead. He got up out of bed and realized it was after ten in the morning. He had seven hours of sleep; it was more than he was used to getting in the army.

He stretched and yawned loudly before stopping at the bathroom. He noticed that Rachel's door was open. He figured that she was already downstairs.

He descended the stairs when the smell of coffee hit him. He smiled in appreciation; coffee had grown to be one of his best friends over the last couple of years. He entered the kitchen and saw Rachel looking out the window, nursing a cup of coffee in her hands. She was wearing pajama pants and a tank top; Finn couldn't help but think that she looked beautiful in the morning.

"Morning, Rach," he said, walking over to the coffee pot.

"Good morning, Finn," she said with a smile. She turned and her eyes widened. Finn was only wearing a pair of basketball shorts. Since when was Finn Hudson so _buff_? Apparently, the army had been very nice to him. "How'd you sleep?" she asked after forcing herself to focus.

"Pretty damn great, actually," he said with a smile. "Thanks for making coffee."

"No problem," she said. "How are you feeling after last night?"

"Not too bad," he said, shrugging. "What about you?"

"I'm… uh, I'm fine. Why?" she asked.

"I thought you'd be pissed at me for kissing you," he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"You remember that?" she asked, her face growing red.

"I wasn't wasted, Rach. I do have an alcohol tolerance," he said with a smirk.

"Oh," she said awkwardly.

"Are you mad?" he asked.

"Not mad, no," she said after a moment. "It just took me by surprise."

"Did you mean what you said? About liking me since you were ten?" he asked.

Rachel nodded. "Did you mean what you said?"

"Totally," he said with a smile. "I like you, Rach."

"When did you come to that conclusion? It seems rather abrupt if you ask me," she said, still seeming nervous.

"Not really. Honestly, you were all I could think about when I was gone," he said, looking into her eyes. "Then I came back and these feelings just hit me. I finally understood why I couldn't stop thinking about you." Rachel turned and set her coffee down before walking up to Finn.

"I've waited forever for you to say that," she said with a smile.

Finn set his coffee down and smiled back at her. "Sorry I kept you waiting," he said.

"I think I can forgive you," she said. "Still wanna kiss me?"

"Hell yeah," he said quickly. Rachel giggled before reaching forward and pulling him toward her. When their lips met, everything else fell away. They completely forgot they were in the middle of the kitchen in their pajamas.

The first thing that Finn realized that Rachel was a damn good kisser. Then, he felt this warmth spreading through him. To him, it meant that they were supposed to be together. It felt perfect.

One of Rachel's hands was around his neck and the other one was slowly trailing down his chest. Finn could fell goosebumps break out all over him. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. His other hand was in her soft hair, keeping her lips on his.

Finn pulled away when his breathing was labored. His eyes met hers; he could see that her pupils were dilated and he could hear that she was breathing heavily, too.

"Wow…" she said, sounding amazed.

"Totally wow," he agreed in a small voice. Rachel laughed at how silly he sounded. "So do we get to do that all the time now? 'Cause I might seriously die if I never get to do that again."

"If you really want to, I have no protests," she said with a smile. Finn smiled widely, cheering on the inside.

-glee-glee-glee-

Finn and Rachel spent that day hanging out around the house, watching movies. Now, they sat rather close to each other, usually with their fingers interlocked. They also kissed each other whenever they wanted. Carole came home from work and realized how close they were sitting to one another.

"It took you two long enough," she said with a smile.

The next day, Finn and Rachel made it official. She even introduced Finn to her coworkers as her "boyfriend," which made them both smile widely.

When they had been official for a week, Rachel started sharing his bed with him. They didn't have sex or anything, but Finn did hold her close every night.

It's not like Rachel didn't care about Finn, she just wasn't quite ready for that aspect of their relationship yet. Finn, always the gentleman, was more than willing for Rachel to be ready.

When Finn received his first paycheck from the government, he took Rachel out for their first official date. They had been dating for a month at this point, so the date was extremely overdue.

Finn was dressed in his nicest khaki shorts and polo. Rachel had on a red sundress since it was so warm outside on this summer night. He took her to a nice restaurant that had outside dining, which he knew that she would love.

After that, he surprised her with a walk through Central Park.

"How's your first date going?" he asked her as they walked slowly through the park. His fingers were interlocked with hers.

"It's pretty perfect," she said, looking up at him with a wide smile."What do you think?"

"I don't think it could be any better," Finn replied with a smirk. They continued walking in companionable silence until they reached a bridge in the middle of the park. Rachel let go of Finn's hand and walked over to the side of the bridge. She brought her hands up in front of her and leaned against the wall.

Finn smiled before walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her stomach. "Don't make fun of me for saying this, but I don't think I've ever been happier than I am right now," he said into her ear.

Rachel turned to face him with a smile on her face. He was smiling down at her as well.

"I love you," she said suddenly, but meaning every word. His eyes widened, but the smile didn't leave his face.

"I love you, too," he replied.

"You don't have to say it back right away. There's no pressure or anything," Rachel said quickly. Finn laughed before kissing her on her forehead.

"You're so silly sometimes. It's a good thing I love you," he said firmly.

"Really?" she asked in a small voice.

"Really," he replied.

Rachel looked into his eyes for an immeasurable amount of time. "I'm ready," she said, nodding.

"Ready for what?" he asked, a little confused.

"I'm ready to make love to you, Finn," she with a small smile.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I mean, we agreed we would wait a while and I'm totally cool with that…"

Rachel kissed him quickly to stop his rambling. "I'm sure," she said. "Take me home, Finn."

Finn couldn't walk out of Central Park fast enough.

As soon as they were in his room, their lips were connected. Their kisses were frantic, but still full of love. They were both still thriving off the high that came with saying "I love you" for the first time.

Rachel tugged on Finn's t-shirt as they kissed. He grabbed it and pulled if off of himself, revealing his tight and muscular chest. Rachel ran her hands down his chest, loving the feeling of her skin on his. Finn reached around Rachel's back and pulled her zipper down while Rachel kicked her flip flops off of her feet. When her dress hit the floor, Finn pulled away to look at his incredible girlfriend.

She was standing there in only underwear with a smile on her face. This was the first time he had actually seen her without a bra on. He was at a loss for words.

"I hope that you not being able to say anything is a good thing," Rachel laughed. Finn nodded firmly. He stepped back toward her and wrapped his arms around her midsection before bringing his lips back to hers.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered into her lips. He felt Rachel smile under his kisses before she reached for the button on his pants. She undid them quickly and they fell to the floor. She pulled away from him for a moment.

"Let's go to the bed," she said quietly. She pulled on his hand and led him to his bed. She climbed on first, lying down on the pillow. Her hair was sprawled over the pillow and her lips were slightly swollen. Finn had never seen anything sexier in his entire life. He smirked before joining her on the bed.

-glee-glee-glee-

"That was perfect," she said with a smile.

"Really?" he asked with a smile. She nodded, smiling wider. "I think it was, too." He reached out and grabbed her waist, pulling her onto his chest. His lips found hers and they kissed more slowly than they had before. "I love you so much," he whispered when they pulled apart.

"I love you, too," she said with a beautiful smile. Then, she covered her mouth as she yawned.

"I was gonna ask for a round two, but you should get some sleep," he said with a chuckle.

"Let me clean up first," she said. She kissed him once more on the cheek before climbing out of bed. She bent over, trying to find her underwear. Finn sat up, appreciating the view.

"Damn, my girl's hot," he said with a smirk. Rachel turned and smiled at him.

"And my boyfriend's pretty damn sexy," she said with a wink. She grabbed one of Finn's t-shirts off the floor and put it on. "I'll be right back," she said before opening the door and walking out of the room.

Finn reached over and grabbed some tissues from next to his bed and wiped himself off. He then grabbed his boxers off the floor and slipped them back on. Minutes later, Rachel joined him in bed.

"Now do we get to do _that_ all the time?" Finn asked.

"If you're lucky," she said with a smile. "I have work tomorrow night, but your mom's working during the day…"

Finn smiled widely. "This whole living together thing's pretty damn awesome," he said, making Rachel giggle.

-glee-glee-glee-

A month later, Carole took a trip to her sister's up in Toledo, leaving Finn and Rachel home alone. Most of the time, they were kissing or having sex, but sometimes, they were also arguing like most couples do.

"I don't know why you're still making a big deal out of this, Finn. What happened last night is over with," Rachel said while stirring the pasta for dinner.

"That's because it is a big deal, Rach. I saw that guy grab your ass!" Finn said.

"Yes, but I politely told him to keep his hands to himself. I'm not quitting my job just because a few people have a few too many drinks. I need to save up money."

"So you're okay with dudes personifying you?" he asked, starting to get angry.

"It's called objectifying, sweetie. And no, I'm not okay with it, but I'll put up with it," she said. She switched the stove off before stirring the sauce again and turning that burner off.

"What? Do you like the attention? Are we not having sex enough that you have to have other dudes grab you?" he yelled in frustration.

Rachel turned to face him abruptly. "I can't believe you just said that!" she shouted, looking hurt. Finn's anger suddenly evaporated.

"Shit, Rach. I didn't mean that," he said, walking up to her.

"Just stay away from me," she said, stepping away from him. Then, with a glare, she stomped to the back door and pulled it open before slamming it shut behind her.

"Son of a bitch," Finn moaned.

Finn gave Rachel fifteen minutes to cool off before following her outside. She was sitting in a lawn chair with her knees pulled up to her chest. He sat beside her on another chair. She turned her head away from him.

"Rachel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that at all," he said, almost sounding like he was pleading. "It's just _really_ hard to watch your girlfriend be violated by some drunk dude and not being able to do anything about it."

"You didn't have to make it like I _enjoy_ it," she said with a frown.

"I know. I just wasn't thinking. You know I rarely think before I talk," he said with a shrug. "Do you really think you can forgive your boyfriend, who _really, really _loves you, for being an idiot?" he asked, looking at her with his saddest pout.

"That's not fair! You know I can't resist the puppy dog eyes!" she said with a small smile.

"Does that mean I'm forgiven?" he asked hopefully.

Rachel groaned. "You're lucky I love you," she said with a smirk.

"I am lucky you love me," he replied. "And I'm lucky you let me love you." Rachel laughed.

"You're such a cornball," she said with a smile. Finn reached over and kissed her once on the lips. He sat back on his lawn chair and reached across, grabbing Rachel's hand and intertwining their fingers.

They both sat back and looked up at the sky. "Is that a shooting star?" Finn asked, noticing a shape that seemed to be falling toward the earth.

"I don't know," Rachel said, sitting up. "That's not the path they normally take. That looks like it's coming down, not going across the sky." They both kept their eyes on the object, following its path.

"Is it an asteroid?" Finn asked after a few moments.

"Maybe," Rachel said, sounding worried. "Whatever it is, it's going to hit something."

They watched it until it disappeared behind the trees. "Do you think it fell?" Finn asked.

Before Rachel could answer, they saw a blinding light followed by a loud explosion. Finn knew that sound.

It was a bomb.

They both jumped up in fear. Rachel was looking toward the explosion with confusion and fear written on her face. Finn's army training kicked in. He grabbed Rachel's hand and pulled her toward the house.

"We need to get inside! Now!" he shouted. Rachel didn't respond; she was still staring in the direction where it hit. Then, something else caught Finn's attention.

There was another one falling toward the earth.

Finn grabbed Rachel and threw her over his shoulder roughly before running into the house. He could hear her starting to hyperventilate while they were descending into the basement. Finn went over to the safest part of the house, which was concrete on all sides. He set Rachel down before grabbing some blankets that were sitting by the washer across the room. He put a blanket down on the ground and sat on it, pulling Rachel into his lap.

"It's okay, Rach," he said soothingly. They both jumped when they heard the sound of another explosion. He continued rubbing her back while she cried into his chest. The sound of explosions continued to ring through the night.

"What's happening?" Rachel sobbed.

"I don't know, babe," Finn replied. The only way he was staying calm right now was because he was trained to do so. "But I swear I won't let anything happen to you."

Finn and Rachel sat in the basement for the rest of the night, feeling the ground shake from the impact of the explosions.

TBC

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A/N: You might be wondering what in the world is going on… Well, we won't know for sure for a while, but things are going to get difficult for Finn and Rachel. Please continue reading and leave some reviews to tell me if you like it or hate it! And this chapter was slightly rushed. I had to set up their relationship, but this story isn't _only_ about that. There's much more drama and action and sadness and happiness coming your way. Happy reading :)


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I still own nothing!

Battle: New York

Chapter Two

Finn and Rachel had both dozed off sometime in the middle of the night when the bombing had finally ceased. Finn was sitting up, leaning against the wall in the basement. Rachel was using his leg as a pillow with her knees pulled up to her chest, lying in the fetal position. The sunlight was streaming through the window on the other side of the room and all was quiet. But the quiet wasn't relaxing; it was eerie.

Finn had suddenly jolted awake, remembering the previous night's events. His training kicked into high gear and he listened closely for anything that sounded out of the ordinary. After a few minutes of hearing nothing, Finn looked down at his watch. It was after ten in the morning. He and Rachel really had to get up and see what the hell was going on.

Finn wished that he could let Rachel sleep, but he wasn't leaving her here by herself while he checked out the state of things.

He gently shook Rachel's shoulder. "Rach, come on," he said quietly. She moaned a little before he shook her shoulder again. "You need to get up, Rach."

He looked down at her in time to see her eyes open. She looked confused for a moment before looking around the basement. Then, realization lit her expression.

"Is it over?" she asked.

"I think so. I haven't heard anything in a while," Finn replied. Rachel sat up and stretched while moaning. She brushed through her hair with her fingers before looking at Finn.

"What do we do now?" she asked.

"I say we get dressed and see what happened," he suggested.

"You want to go out there?" Rachel asked incredulously. "What if it starts up again?"

"That's a chance we have to take. I need to make sure people are okay, Rach," he said soothingly. "I won't let anything happen to you." He reached out and rubbed her arm soothingly.

"Right. You're right," she conceded. "I just… I don't think I can handle seeing anything terrible."

"And I don't want you to see anything terrible, Rach. But there could be kids out there and other people that really need help," he said, almost sounding like he was pleading.

Rachel was quiet for a moment before nodding. "I'll help," she said.

Finn smiled before reaching forward and kissing her on the forehead. "That's my girl," he said fondly. Both Finn and Rachel got to their feet at the same time. He grabbed her hand and they walked to the bottom of the stairs before walking up them together.

They walked into the kitchen, where the food from last night was still sitting. Rachel looked out the window. "It's too quiet," she said.

"I know," Finn agreed.

"But isn't that strange? Shouldn't we be hearing ambulances and fire trucks and things like that?" she asked.

"Yeah. We should be," Finn said in a small voice. "Don't worry about that now. Just go put on something durable and pack some extra clothes and stuff you'll need."

Rachel nodded before walking out of the kitchen. As soon as he heard her walking up the stairs, Finn went into action. He picked the phone up and held it to his ear, not even hearing a dial tone.

"Shit," he murmured before slamming it back down. He then went over to the pantry and started pulling out nonperishable food that he and Rachel could take with them. He didn't know when they'd be back home. As soon as the food was gathered in a pile on the kitchen table, he went to change and grab his own bag.

He went into his closet and put back on his tan pants and boots from the army. He matched this with a thick black shirt that could withstand some wear and tear. He threw some spare clothes into his bag and turned just in time to see Rachel walk into his room. She was wearing some tan cargo pants and two layered, loose tank tops with gym shoes. Her outfit closely resembled his, which made him chuckle.

"I didn't realize we'd be twins," she said with a smile.

"Me neither," he agreed. "What all did you pack?"

"The necessities," she said with a shrug. "Toothbrushes, hairbrush, toothpaste, and other things like that."

"You're not going to a sleepover, Rachel," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Well, _excuse me_ for not being trained by the army! I'm not quite up to speed with how to react when New York City's bombed!" she yelled, shocking Finn.

Finn was quiet for a second. "I'm sorry," he said. Rachel took a deep breath.

"It's fine. I'm just feeling a bit… overwhelmed," she said. "I'm trying to prepare myself for what I might see and it's scaring me a bit. I didn't mean to snap at you."

Finn walked toward Rachel and pulled her in for a hug; she hugged him back tightly. "I can't tell you what to expect, 'cause I don't know. But I will be there with you and I swear that I won't let anything bad happen."

"I'm scared," Rachel said in a small voice.

"So am I, babe," he replied before kissing the top of her head. "You ready to go?" he asked.

"No," she replied. "But I will."

Finn let go of Rachel and went around his room, grabbing a few more things. He had acquired his carry and conceal license since arriving home, so he was now the owner of a handgun, which he stowed away in his front pocket.

"What's that for?" Rachel asked nervously. She wasn't a big fan of guns and Finn had kept it put up since he got it to make her more comfortable.

"You never know when I might need it," he replied. He went into his dresser drawer and grabbed extra bullets, stowing them in his bag. He also grabbed a pocketknife of his and put that in his other pocket.

"I'm guessing you plan on running into trouble," Rachel said uneasily.

"I'd rather be safe than sorry. Especially now," he said before zipping his bag up. "Let's go. I picked out some food we can pack."

Finn led Rachel out of the room. She was quiet and he figured that she just now understood the gravity of the situation. He walked into the kitchen with Rachel on his heels.  
"Why are you making it like we might never come back?" she asked in a broken voice.

"It's not that, Rach. We might not be back for a while. I promise that we'll be back in this house again," he said while stuffing granola bars in his backpack. Rachel nodded wordlessly before setting her backpack down and walking over to the fridge. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"We'll need strength to help people," she said. "Might as well eat some of the food that's going to go bad soon."

"Good idea," he said with a smile. Rachel ate as much fruit as she could stand while Finn stuffed sandwich after sandwich in his mouth. Finn drank milk, needing the calcium, while Rachel drank water and took a calcium and vitamin C tablet. Rachel put the rest of the fruit that she couldn't eat in her bag for them to snack on the rest of the day.

They were both in the living room with their backpacks on when Rachel froze.

"Finn? What about your mom?" she asked in a terrified whisper.

"Electricity's down, so I have no way of getting a hold of her. We'll just have to hope that she's okay up in Toledo," Finn said optimistically. Rachel tried smiling, but the troubled look never left her eyes.

Finn grabbed his keys after deciding that they should drive now to conserve their strength. Plus, if anyone needed help, having the truck could come in handy. Finn locked the doors of the house, hoping that it wouldn't get looted by any desperate people if the situation was worse than he was hoping it was. He had seen plenty of doomsday movies to know that things got rough when people were fighting for their lives.

Finn kept his bag with him in the front and Rachel did the same thing. They both wanted everything important to them within arm's reach, in case of emergencies. Neither of them switched the radio on; they were too sad to listen to music and they were too scared to hear what the radio might say if it was playing emergency messages.

Finn pulled out of the driveway and Rachel looked around at all of the other houses. Either people had already evacuated or they were still hiding; the street was too quiet. They were both nervous as Finn pulled onto the next street. And then both of their stomachs dropped.

Most of the houses, just one block away from theirs, were gone.

Blown away.

You could plainly see where the bombs were dropped, leaving deep indentations in the ground that resembled craters on the moon. Finn had to swerve around some of them to avoid getting the truck stuck.

Neither Finn nor Rachel said a word. Finn couldn't think of anything to say. Rachel was too scared to even speak.

Street after street, they saw the same thing. Houses were gone with holes in the ground where they once stood. Other homes were still standing, but there seemed to be no movement on the outside or the inside.

It was when they passed the closest medical center that they experienced a sharp stab to their hope.

Literally half of the building was missing and the other half was burned from having been on fire.

"Finn, we need to see if there's anyone in there," Rachel said once she had found her voice.

Finn looked at Rachel appraisingly. "Are you sure you can handle that?" he asked. Rachel nodded fiercely. "Okay," he said. He pulled into the parking lot of the medical center and turned the engine off before placing his keys in his pocket. They both climbed out and put their backpacks on before looking toward the building.

The front doors were blasted out and the ceiling seemed to be caving in a bit. "Stay behind me," Finn said to Rachel. She nodded before following him into the decrepit structure.

Their footsteps echoed as they walked around. They listened for the beeping of medical equipment, but couldn't hear anything. The waiting room was completely empty.

Finn started to walk down the long hallway that was to the left of the waiting room, but Rachel walked straight ahead into a room adjacent to the waiting room. The walls were singed in black and Rachel guessed that the fire had gone out not too long ago since she could still feel heat surrounding her.

Rachel's gaze landed on a blackened door that was partially open. Then, her attention was torn to a shoe that was lying on the ground. A child's shoe. It was the first sign of human life they'd seen since leaving. Rachel ran toward the door and tried to push it open, feeling some resistance. The doorjamb was falling, making it difficult to get the door open. Rachel pushed and pushed on the door, causing little pieces of debris to fall on her. They weren't large pieces, so she ignored them and continued using all of her strength to push the door open.

Finally, the door opened enough for her to squeeze inside. What she saw next made her chest ache and tears spring to her eyes.

A child was lying on the ground, not moving. There were burns on the little boy's face and arms. Rachel concluded that he had been trapped in the room when the bombing and the fire had started. His other arm was wrapped in a cast that looked brand new.

"Rachel?" she heard Finn shouting. She let go of the breath that she didn't know she had been holding. Pain rippled through her as she fell to her knees right to the side of the boy.

"I'm in here, Finn," she yelled with a thick voice. She reached up and wiped the tears away with slightly dirty fingertips.

"Where are you?" she heard him shout again, getting closer.

She cleared her throat. "Right in here," she shouted. Her eyes never left the little boy, who was probably no more than six or seven years old.

She heard Finn trying to push the door open, but the doorjamb was giving him the same trouble. A sudden cracking noise from above made her shift her gaze to the ceiling. She looked up just in time to see a piece of the ceiling starting to fall. Rachel threw her body over the little boy, shielding him from further harm. The large piece of ceiling hit her square in the back, taking her breath away from the impact.

"Rach? Are you okay?" Finn shouted as soon as the noise had settled. Rachel took a deep breath, trying to restart her lungs and immediately started coughing violently.  
"I'm okay," she coughed. She sat up and the piece of ceiling fell onto the floor. Rachel looked around and saw a cabinet on the side of the room. She stood carefully and walked over to it, still coughing.

Rachel opened the bottom cabinet and found a white blanket like the ones that hospitals used. She grabbed it and walked back over to the child. She held one end and shook it loose before lying it over him, covering his face.

"I'm so sorry," she murmured between coughs.

"Rachel, can you squeeze through the door?" Finn asked, sounding worried. Rachel turned away from the little boy in the blanket and turned back toward the door. Finn had pried it open farther than she had, so she'd be able to fit.

"I can fit," she said. She squeezed through the crack and was immediately pulled into Finn's embrace. He hugged her tightly, making her cough harshly.

"Sorry," he said, letting go of her. She looked down and saw that she was covered in a thin layer of dust with tears leaving tracks down her face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the clean rags that he had found in one of the rooms and started wiping her face gently.

"There was a little boy in there," she said quietly as Finn wiped her face. "He was trapped when the fire started." She looked and saw that his features had hardened. "What?" she asked.

"Everyone else was dead, too," he said apprehensively. "Either from the fire or the blast. I could see in some of the rooms. No one made it."

Rachel took a deep breath and coughed again. "Looks like we were too late to help anyone," she said in a small voice.

Finn looked down at her sadly and kissed her forehead. "I'm really sorry you had to see that," he said. Rachel nodded. "Not that this makes it any better, but I grabbed some antibiotics from a storage room. In case of emergencies, you know…"

"Good thinking," she said with a bleak smile. "And I have the first aid kit from home in my bag. Not everything I brought was useless."

"I guess not," Finn said with a short-lived smile. He put the rag that cleaned Rachel's face back into his pocket. "Ready to go?" Rachel glanced back at the room and knew that there was no more that she could do here.

"Yeah," she said, turning back to him. He grabbed her hand and led her back out through the waiting room and to the truck. Before he started the engine, she reached out and placed her hand on his.

"I love you," she said firmly. Finn smiled just a little before leaning forward and kissing her lips sweetly.

"I love you, too," he replied.

"If anything ever happened to you…" she said, looking down, at a loss for words.

"I'll be just fine. We both will," he insisted. Rachel looked up at him and saw the determination in his eyes.

"I believe you," she said with a small smile. Finn smiled back before placing the key in the ignition and starting the car.

Little did either of them know, but what they had just seen was nothing compared to what was to come.

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A/N: This was a short chapter, but it's certainly not the end. Please leave reviews and tell me what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I still don't own anything.

Battle of New York

Chapter Three

As they continued driving into the city, they were surprised to see that the streets were still desolate. It felt like they were the last two people left in the city.

"Where is everyone?" Rachel asked.

"I'm not sure," Finn replied uneasily. "Unless they're all hiding underground. In the subway system, you know. It's one of the structures that might be able to withstand bombing. To an extent at least."

Rachel was quiet for a moment, thinking of what to do. "You know how they say to keep the radio on during really bad storms?" She looked at Finn, who nodded. "Maybe there's an emergency broadcast or something."

"Hopefully there is," Finn said. He reached out and switched the radio on and was met only with static. He returned his gaze to the road.

"You keep an eye out for people. I'll mess with this thing," Rachel said. She grabbed the knob and slowly turned it, searching for a noise of any kind. The sound of static filled the car.

Then, when almost all the radio waves had been scanned, they heard a voice.

"Turn it up," Finn said. Rachel did as he said and they listened to the voice.

"Repeat, emergency evacuation in effect. Trains leaving from the Woolworth terminal every hour. Union Terminal has withstood irreparable damage…" the voice then repeated the same thing over and over again. Rachel turned the volume down.

"I'm not really surprised that Union Terminal was hit. They've hit all of our hospitals and fire departments. This was almost too perfectly planned out," Rachel surmised. Finn sat there in thought. She was right. It's like whoever did this wanted to cut off New York from the rest of the world. Most of the radio stations were cut out, too.

"So are we going?" Rachel asked, looking at Finn.

Finn thought for a moment. "You are," he said.

"Not without you I'm not," Rachel replied immediately.

"Rach, there's obviously something going on here and I need to check it out. I can't do that if I'm worried about you getting hurt," Finn explained.

"And you won't be worried about me if I take the train and end up in some random place?" she asked.

"At least you won't be in harm's way," Finn said, shrugging.

"You can't make me go," Rachel said firmly. "Plus, I can be of some help. I know basic first aid from being a lifeguard all those summers."

"Can you just go? For me, please?" Finn asked. Rachel looked at him incredulously. He glanced at her and she could tell that he was very worried.

"Fine," Rachel agreed. "I don't like this one bit, but I'll find some way to get to Toledo to make sure your mom's okay."

Finn reached out and grabbed her hand before kissing it. "Thank you," he said.

"Whatever," Rachel replied. He could tell that she wasn't happy about leaving him, but he couldn't be able to function if he knew that she was in danger by staying with him.

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Finn and Rachel finally sighed in relief when they saw how busy the Woolworth terminal was. The terminal was on the outskirts of town. It reminded Rachel of a train station in the old West. It was rarely used anymore, but now it seemed to have a purpose again.

Finn parked the truck and climbed out with Rachel following suit. They heard a man's voice over an old speaker saying that all trains were bound for Pittsburgh.

Finn reached into the side pocket of his bag and grabbed an extra pocketknife that he had. "Take this with you," he said, holding it out to Rachel.

Rachel was afraid to grab it, almost like it would bite her or something. "What in the world might I need that for?" she asked.

"People are probably panicking, Rach. You'd be surprised the kinds of things they'd do out of desperation. Just keep this with you so you can defend yourself," he said. She opened her mouth but said nothing. Instead, she reached out and grabbed the knife from Finn before sliding it in her pants pocket.

"Let's go," Finn said, holding out his hand for her to take. Her fingers intertwined with his and they made their way onto the platform.

Moments later, they were standing there along with dozens of other people. Rachel frowned after seeing how terrified some of the kids were. Their parents weren't any better.

"I don't know about this, Finn," Rachel said uneasily. She was facing the direction that the train should be coming and he was facing her with his back to the tracks.

"Everything should be okay," Finn said. He reached out and grabbed her arms before rubbing them soothingly. "Just let me figure out what's going on here and then I'll find you and mom."

"But what if New York's not the only place that was targeted, Finn? This could be happening all over the country. Leaving you could be more dangerous than staying," she said quietly, not wanting the children that were near her to overhear.

"I know you're scared about leaving, Rach. Trust me, if there was any way that I knew you could stay with me and be fine, you'd be staying. But I just don't know what's going to happen next," Finn said. They heard the sound of the train getting closer in the distance.

"But I don't want to leave you," Rachel whimpered. "What if you're right and this was just the first thing to happen? How am I supposed to get through each day not knowing if you made it or not?"

"Babe, I just made it through a tour of duty in Iraq. You don't have to worry about me. I know what I'm doing," he said with a small smile.

"But what if this isn't like anything you've seen before?" she asked worriedly. The train was getting even closer. They could feel the ground starting to tremble.

Finn chuckled. "You watch too many movies," he said.

"That may be true, but it's going to be impossible for me not to worry," she replied. Finn reached forward and kissed her on the forehead.

"I know. But at least you'll be with my mom," he replied. Rachel's smile was short-lived as she caught sight of something in the distance. She looked in confusion as it came closer and closer.

"Oh my God," she gasped once she realized what it was.

The train was barreling down the tracks.

But it was on fire.

"What?" Finn asked questioningly. He turned and looked in the direction that Rachel was staring. He gasped the same time that cries of fear started to ring out through the crowd.

Everyone watched as the train continued traveling at a frightening speed down the tracks. The flames completely engulfed the entire structure.

Everyone jumped back once it ran past them on the tracks. Finn grabbed Rachel's arm and pulled her backwards. But that didn't prevent her from feeling the intense heat that was coming off of the train as it whizzed past.

Rachel gulped, wondering how many people were now dead. She then looked around the crowd and saw most of the children crying. Their parents were trying to stay calm, but Rachel could see the fear written on their faces. Those people are what helped her make up her mind.

"I'm staying here with you no matter what," Rachel said firmly to Finn. "I want to know who the hell is attacking us and trying to kill us. And I'm going to fight back, no matter what you say. Someone needs to defend all of these children. And the little boy at the hospital. And don't think you can talk me out of it." By the end of her speech, her chest was heaving. She didn't care about what Finn thought. She was going to help.

Finn looked into her eyes as she spoke. Sure, Rachel Berry had always been stubborn, but he knew that arguing with her was going to get them nowhere.

Finn nodded. "I understand," he said.

"Good," Rachel said, a little surprised by him agreeing to it. "Then I hope you have a plan B."

"I think I might," Finn said. "But we gotta go to Jersey. I've got a buddy there."

"Let's go," Rachel said firmly. Finn held in a laugh. Her determination was adorable.

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The drive to Jersey was quiet, but not uncomfortable. Finn was trying to plan out what to do next and Rachel was trying to run through all of the movies she had ever seen to prepare herself for what they might run into. Sure, movies weren't the best source, but there were plenty of kickass female characters that Rachel felt she could channel. She had to prove to Finn that she could handle this. And she needed to get even with someone for that little boy in the hospital.

"This friend of yours… How do you know him?" Rachel asked.

"He was in the army with me," Finn said. "He was kind of dishonorably discharged. He liked being a soldier, but he didn't really handle authority very well."

"Sounds like a charmer," Rachel surmised.

"He takes some getting used to," Finn chuckled. "But he's paranoid as hell, so I'm betting he knows what's going on. Or at least has an idea."

"What's his name?" Rachel asked.

"Noah Puckerman," Finn responded. "But he likes being called Puck. He gave me his address before he left, telling me to stop by anytime. It'll be weird seeing him again. Especially now."

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Finn knocked on the door before stepping back and standing next to Rachel.

Moments later, someone peeked through the curtain on the front door. Rachel then heard numerous locks clicking before the door was opened.

A man of average looking height with a Mohawk stood there with a smile on his face.

"Finn Hudson," he said. "What the hell brings you here?"

"I think you know," Finn said. "It's good to see you, man."

"You, too," Puck replied. "And who's this?" he asked, motioning to Rachel.

"I'm Rachel Berry," Rachel said, stepping forward with her hand extended. Puck looked at her with surprise before grabbing her hand and shaking it.

"Are you two…?" Puck asked.

"She's my girlfriend," Finn said with a smile.

"Is she that girl that you talked about all the damn time? The singer?" Puck asked.

"Yup," Finn replied.  
"You didn't mention that she was smokin'," Puck said, looking at Rachel appraisingly. Rachel blushed and Finn rolled his eyes. Typical Puck. "Anyway, come on in. I think you'll wanna see what I found."

Rachel followed him into the house with Finn right behind her. Finn closed the door and locked it before following them into the room.

The living room walls were covered in maps and newspaper clippings. There was also a laptop there with some machines attached to it. Right now, there seemed to be the image of a radar on the screen scanning something.

Puck stood at one end of the table and picked up some papers. Rachel and Finn stood at the other end and looked around in surprise.  
"So what did you find?" Finn asked.

"Well, first of all, we weren't the only ones attacked. Most of the major cities, like Chicago, L.A., Cincinnati, Houston, were bombed, too," Puck said.

"Do you know who did it?" Rachel asked.

"I'm not positive, but my radio picked up some army chatter and they're not friendlies," Puck said.

"I could have told you that," Rachel said, rolling her eyes.

"I wasn't done," Puck replied in annoyance. "Apparently, no one's taking responsibility for the attacks. They've already had the United Nations assembled and everything. No one knows where it's coming from," Puck said.

"You don't think it's over, do you?" Finn asked.

"Not by a long shot. And the army doesn't, either. They're gathering troops in all the cities that were attacked. Sounds to me like they're expecting some hand to hand combat. They're talking about bringing in some heavy fire power," Puck said.

"How do you know all of this?" Rachel asked.

"I had a friend in the army that's good with hacking computers. Artie Abrams. Remember him, Hudson?" Finn nodded. "Anyway, he got blown up with an IED. He's in a wheelchair now. But he's the one that got me all this stuff off the black market or something."

"What does he think is going on?" Finn asked.

"You know Artie. Huge _Star Wars _and _Star Trek_ fan," Puck chuckled. "He's convinced it's aliens."

"Seriously?" Rachel asked doubtfully.

"That's what he thinks. All I know is that whatever dropped the bombs was flying too high up in the fucking sky to be any aircraft I've ever heard of. And the bombs all hit with freakish accuracy," Puck said, shrugging.

"But aliens?" Rachel asked. "That just sounds crazy."

"I know," Puck said. "But either way, we've got a fight ahead of us. Personally, I can't wait."

"Count me in," Rachel said firmly. Puck looked from her to Finn in surprise and confusion.

"You're like ninety pounds, chick," Puck said. "Have you ever even fired a gun before?"

"Yes," Rachel said. Finn looked to her in shock.

"I didn't know that," he said.

"I needed a distraction after the drama with my dad. Shooting helped me release some tension," she replied.

"But you freaked out when I pulled out mine," Finn said, confused.

"That's because I've only ever shot paper targets, Finn. I couldn't imagine actually shooting someone. Or _something_," she added, glancing at Puck.

"Well, you're gonna have to get over that," Puck said. "Something could be trying to kill you and you better shoot back." Finn looked at her in worry. Could he really just sit there while Rachel was in the line of fire?

"I'm fairly certain that my survival skills will kick in during a situation like that," Rachel said confidently.

"I hope so," Puck said. Finn did, too.

-glee-glee-glee-

Rachel made spaghetti for the three of them at Puck's place. While she was cooking, Puck and Finn were sitting at the table, listening to the radio and making plans. She heard random words here and there, but wasn't quite sure what was being said. It sounded like a bunch of indecipherable code to her. When dinner was finished, she called for the boys before making herself a plate.

"Thanks, baby," Finn said, kissing the top of her head.

"You're welcome," Rachel said serenely.  
"Yeah. Thanks, Berry," Puck said, stepping into the kitchen.

"You're welcome, Noah," Rachel replied.

"Call me Puck," Puck requested.

"I like Noah better," Rachel said with a smile.

"You're not gonna change her mind," Finn said, putting sauce on top of his noodles.

"Fine," Puck huffed. "But you're the only one that can call me that, Berry."

Rachel smiled smugly at him before taking a bite of her spaghetti. She joined them in the dining room as they talked about their plans.

"So what's going on?" Rachel asked. "If I'm a part of the group, I'd like to know where I'm going and what I'm doing."

Finn took a deep breath. He didn't like the idea of Rachel fighting next to him, but he knew that all the talking in the world couldn't convince her to stay behind. "We're thinking of going out in the morning. The radio chatter said they're meeting up on the NYU campus," Finn explained.

"And you just want to show up and work with the army?" Rachel asked.

Finn shrugged. "Maybe just to figure out what's going on. I'm not on duty, so they can't just make me fight with them. Plus, we might get separated if I let them rope me into joining a troop. If you're going to be fighting, I'd rather it be with me around," he said.

"We're probably not going to be the only citizens there anyway," Puck said. "I'm sure tons of people want to fight against who or whatever the hell did this."

Rachel fell asleep on the couch not too much later after having such a terrible night's sleep the night before. She had showered before falling asleep and wasn't too happy about having to use Puck's masculine body wash, but she figured that she wouldn't know when she'd shower next, so she didn't complain. Before she fell asleep, she listened to Finn and Puck discussing plans.

-glee-glee-glee-

Rachel woke quickly after a terrible dream. She sat up and was near tears as she remembered what had happened in her dream.

Her and Finn were sitting at home when all of a sudden, bombs started going off all around them. Before Rachel could register a thought, a bomb dropped on the house. A flash of light was the last thing she saw before waking up.

It took her a few moments to calm herself down and remind herself whose living room she was in. She ran her hands through her hair as she calmed her breathing. A clock on the wall told her that it was after three in the morning.

"Finn?" she called. She couldn't hear Puck or Finn's voices anywhere. She got up and called for Finn again before searching the house. She went into both of the bedrooms, but her tall, awkward boyfriend was nowhere to be seen. She walked past the bathroom. The door was open and no one was in there.

"Finn Hudson!" she shouted, the panic starting to overwhelm her. Is it possible that Finn and Puck left her behind, not wanting her to fight?

"Finn!" she shouted as loudly as she could. When she didn't hear a response, she started to get angry.

They had to have left her there. But Rachel didn't care. She'd walk right across the bridge back into New York and go to the NYU campus on her own. They couldn't stop her.

She was standing in the kitchen when she heard the backdoor open. Finn and Puck came running in, looking panicked.

"Rach, what's wrong?" Finn asked worriedly. Rachel huffed before stomping toward him and punching him as hard as she could in his shoulder.

"Jeez, Rach! What the hell was that for?" he asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"I thought you left me here!" she shouted. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"We were in the backyard," Finn explained. "I wouldn't leave you here, babe."

"I thought someone broke in and was stabbing you with the way you were screaming," Puck said, rolling his eyes.

"Someone's about to get stabbed," Rachel murmured.

"Go back outside, Puck," Finn said. "I'll be out in a second." Puck shrugged before walking back outside.

"If you do plan on leaving me, I'll walk to the NYU campus on my own," Rachel said, crossing her arms in front of her.

"I know that, Rach," Finn chuckled. He then looked at her and could tell something was off. "Did something happen?"

Rachel uncrossed her arms. "I just had a bad dream," she said quietly. "We were being bombed again and it woke me up. Then, I couldn't find you and freaked out."

Finn stepped forward and pulled her in for a hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry I scared you," he murmured before kissing her on top of the head.

"It's okay. Sorry for punching you," she said into his chest. She felt him laugh.

"At least I know you can defend yourself. That was a pretty hard punch for someone as small as you," Finn chuckled.

"I took self defense classes before taking the job at the bar," she explained.

"That doesn't surprise me," Finn replied with another laugh.

She leaned back and looked up at him. "Just promise me that you'll never leave me behind," she said.

Finn leaned forward and kissed her on the lips quickly before standing back up straight. "I swear I'll never leave you behind," he said firmly.

"Good," she said quietly before reaching up on her tiptoes and kissing him swiftly. "Love you."

"I love you, too," Finn replied.

A few moments later, they both jumped as they heard the all-too-familiar sound of an explosion far off in the distance. Ten seconds later, Puck burst through the back door. Another sound of an explosion rang through the air.

"Time to suit up. A ground attack just started," Puck panted, running into the living room.

Finn grabbed Rachel by the hand and they followed the path Puck had taken. "Do they know what it is?" Finn asked.

"All I heard was 'What the hell?' before the radio went static," Puck explained. They ended up in Puck's bedroom. Rachel's heart was racing, but Finn was still collected, his training having already kicked in.

Puck stepped out of the closet, holding a large rifle. "It's semi-automatic. I'm assuming you remember how to use it?" Puck said, handing it to Finn.

"Of course," Finn said. He let go of Rachel's hand before grabbing the gun from Puck. Rachel watched in amazement as he pulled pieces of the gun off before putting them back on. Puck then handed Finn a box of bullets.

"It holds twelve rounds. Reloads pretty fast, too. I've got another one for me, compliments of Artie," Puck said. He stepped back in the closet and then came back out before slinging his gun over his shoulder. "I've got a few more .45 calibers in a bag in here with plenty of bullets." A few moments later, a backpack was on his back. Rachel could only imagine how many deadly weapons were in there.

Rachel swallowed before speaking up. "What about me?" she asked.

"How about a nice little .380 caliber for you?" he said. He reached into the closet and grabbed a gun before handing it to Rachel.

"It's almost like the one I used at the shooting range," she said, getting used to holding the gun in her hand.

"That's the kind of gun police officers usually have," Finn said. He looked from Rachel to Puck. "Do I want to know where you got all of this from?"

"Artie," Puck said with a smirk. "Now, grab the rest of your shit and let's get going." Finn grabbed Rachel's hand and led her into the living room. Finn reminded her of where the safety on the gun was. She put it into her pocket before grabbing the rest of her things.

"Are you ready for this?" Finn asked once he was ready to go.

"I guess we'll find out," Rachel said with a small smile.

-glee-glee-glee-

A/N: Get ready for some action! And will we finally find out what's leading the attacks? Please read and review.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I still own nothing.

Battle: New York

Chapter Four

Rachel's heart was pounding as they drove back across the bridge into New York. They could see the explosions in the distance. The flashes of light were smaller than the other night, but the sounds were still startlingly loud.

Finn was in the driver's seat, studiously ignoring any and all traffic laws since no one else was on the road. Puck was in the back of the truck, tensed and ready to jump out at any moment.

Rachel could feel the weight of the gun in her pocket. The pocketknife that Finn had given her was clipped onto her waistband. It was hard to believe that the Rachel Berry that was currently possessing dangerous weapons was the same Rachel Berry that used to not condone violence of any kind. It used to be incredibly difficult for her to sit in the crowd at Finn's football games during high school knowing very well that those boys wanted to hurt each other.

She'd grown up since then.

She wasn't sure what exactly they were up against, but she knew that she would try her best to hurt them before they could get to her or Finn. Maybe even Noah. He did creep her out with the way that everything he said was usually an innuendo. But he also welcomed her into his home and supplied her and Finn with weapons. That counted for something.

Rachel looked over at Finn. The look on his face was one of intense focus and determination. She had never seen this side of him before. The other night when he snapped back into "army mode," she had been a little startled. But now, she was grateful that Finn had his army training. He would know what to do in almost any type of situation. Since Rachel had no clue what was going on, she was very reliant on Finn.

"It's quiet now," Finn said as they continued speeding toward the middle of the city.

"What?" Rachel asked, breaking out of her reverie.

"I haven't heard any gunfire or explosions for at least two minutes," Finn said.

"Could that be a good thing or a bad thing?" Rachel asked nervously.

"We'll find out when we get there," Finn muttered.

Less than five minutes later, they drove through the part of town where some fighting must have taken place. Windows were shattered and a few cars were still ablaze. However, there were no people around, so Finn wasn't quite sure if it was over. He still didn't hear anything, but he remained on high alert.

Finn pulled over and put the car into park before shutting the engine off. He then looked over to Rachel. She looked a little nervous, but determined as well.

"I need you to stay behind me until I know what's going on, okay?" Finn asked. Rachel nodded fiercely. "Turn the safety on your gun off, but keep it pointed at the ground away from your feet in case you need it."

Rachel's hands were shaking a bit as she pulled the gun out of her pocket and turned the safety off.

"Ready?" Finn asked.

"I think so," Rachel said. Finn nodded and climbed out of the car. He could hear Rachel doing the same. Finn put his keys in his pocket in case they needed to get away quickly. The truck was kind of old, but it was capable of going at least sixty miles per hour, which was faster than any of them could run.

Puck jumped out of the back of the truck and had his gun at the ready.

"Help me keep an eye on Rachel," Finn whispered to Puck quickly.

"I've got you, man," Puck replied just as quietly. Finn then walked around the back of the truck and went over to Rachel's side. To their right was an old building. Further down the block, there was a bit of an open space which Finn wanted to check out.

The power was out in the entire city, so the only light came from the cars that were currently on fire. This lack of vision left Finn, Puck, and Rachel on edge. With Finn in the front, Rachel in the middle, and Puck bringing up the rear, the three of them formed a procession and walked down the sidewalk. The three of them listened out for any kind of sounds, leaving all of them tense.

They finally reached the end of the street. Finn peeked around the corner of the building and looked down the street. There were more things on fire and even some debris lying in the middle of the road. Some sort of fight definitely made it through there, he figured. He also noticed a larger mass lying near a red car that was parked on the street. He tried squinting, but he wasn't quite sure what it was. It wasn't moving, so Finn figured it was safe to proceed.

"There's something in the street. Keep an eye out for any movement and stay behind me," Finn said to both Puck and Rachel.

Puck nodded in agreement and Rachel just stood there nervously.

"Let's go," Finn said before stepping around the corner. Puck had to nudge Rachel a little before she started walking. Once she did, she was right behind Finn. Puck kept shifting his gaze all over the place, not wanting to be ambushed by God-only-knows what.

As Finn got closer to the large object lying in the middle of the street, he realized that it was a person.

"Man down!" Finn yelled out of familiarity before jogging toward the person. He was surprised when Rachel ran faster than he did. She made it to the man and dropped to his side, placing her gun on the ground. She then reached her hand out and felt his neck, searching for a pulse.

She couldn't find one in his neck, so she grabbed his arm and tried to find one in his wrist. Then, her stomach dropped.

"He's dead," Rachel said. She looked up and saw both Finn and Puck standing there, looking down at her.

"We need to keep moving," Puck said uneasily, moving around.

"Shouldn't we move him?" Rachel asked, looking down at the man whose face was splattered with blood. Whether it was his blood or someone else's, Rachel didn't know.

"Puck's right, Rach. We have to keep going," Finn said. Rachel looked back up at Finn and saw that his face was emotionless. She guessed that's how the army trained them.

Rachel glanced back down at the man sadly before reaching for her gun and getting to her feet. "Lead the way," she said quietly to Finn. He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, trailing it down her arm, before turning and walking down the street.

"We can't save everyone, Berry," Puck said as they followed Finn. Rachel thought back to the little boy at the bombed hospital.

"I know," she replied quietly.

-glee-glee-glee-

They hadn't seen any other signs of life until they turned onto Eighth Street.

Then they wished they hadn't seen anyone at all.

Finn wanted to tell Rachel not to look, but she already ran past him, toward all of the people that were on the streets. Most of them were lying there, unmoving, and Finn knew what happened.

They were all dead. He and Puck didn't have to check.

But Rachel did.

Finn and Puck just stood there, watching as Rachel ran from person to person, frantically trying to save someone. They knew they couldn't stop her.

Rachel couldn't believe it. All seventeen people on this street were dead. Some of them were wearing uniforms like Finn's; others were wearing plain clothes. Regardless, they were all dead.

She stood up and walked away from the last person, starting to feel dizzy.

What in the world happened? she wondered.

She stumbled over to a trashcan and threw up noisily inside it. Tears were also streaming down her cheeks as reality slapped her in the face.

They were in a very dangerous situation and could die.

Rachel could die before she even knew what was happening.

That thought scared her more than anything.

She jumped when she felt a hand on her back, rubbing it soothingly. Then, she relaxed only a little, knowing it was Finn.

She heaved three more times before her stomach was completely empty of its contents.

"It's gonna be okay," she heard Finn chanting once she could hear again.

"How is anything going to be okay again?" she groaned. Finn couldn't answer that.

-glee-glee-glee-

Rachel lay next to Finn in the strangers' bed. After spending another half an hour scouring the streets of New York, Rachel, Finn, and Puck had only found more dead bodies. They still weren't sure what attacked everyone, but they knew that there was a serious fight ahead of them.

Finn and Puck had broken into a house that had been abandoned. Rachel couldn't force herself to eat, but the boys ate plenty of the food in the fridge of the empty house.

Finn had his arms wrapped firmly around Rachel as they lay in the bed, but for the first time ever, she wasn't completely comforted by his presence. The faces of all of the dead men and women, and that little boy from the hospital, kept flashing through her mind. Some of them had been in the army, like Finn and Puck, and they didn't survive. They had the same exact training that Puck and Finn had, but it didn't protect them.

Could they actually survive this? Whatever _this_ is?

It wasn't until the sun started rising that Rachel fell into an uneasy slumber.

-glee-glee-glee-

"I almost prefer going out at night," Rachel said as she watched the guys get their things back together.

"That makes it easier for something to sneak up on us, Berry," Puck replied, shoving some food into his backpack.

"But it also makes it easier for _us_ to hide if we have to," Rachel replied. "I feel like a walking target moving around in the daylight now."

"We're moving targets no matter when we go out," Finn said in a dark voice.

"Thanks for being so optimistic," Rachel replied sarcastically. "It's very comforting."

"Don't mind him, Berry," Puck said, just as Finn was about to apologize. "He forgets to turn his asshole mode off sometimes."

Finn chuckled harshly. "Look who's talking," he muttered.

Without speaking, Rachel got up and walked out of the kitchen. She then went to the living room and stood in front of the bay window with her arms wrapped around her midsection. She looked outside and knew that kids should have been on their way home from school right now. But the streets were quiet.

"You okay?" she heard Finn's soft voice ask from behind her.

"Not really," she murmured.

Rachel could hear Finn walking toward her. Her eyes closed in contentment as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her close against his chest. She felt his cheek pressing against her hair.

"I always wanted a bay window, you know," she murmured.

"I remember. You told me that a while ago,' he replied just as quietly.

"But I changed my mind now," she said. "If all that window's going to show me is a destroyed city, then I don't want it."

"This will all be over before you know it," he replied. "Then you'll get that window you want. I'll install it myself. And then we can sit there and watch the neighborhood kids running around like you like to do."

"Don't make me any promises," Rachel replied after a moment. "We're just walking targets, remember? It's just a matter of time before we're hit."

Finn abruptly turned her around to face him. "You know I didn't mean that. We're gonna make it, Rach," he said firmly.

She looked into his almost cinnamon-colored eyes. The amount of concern and love she was there was overwhelming. "Just promise me that you won't do anything that will take you away from me," she said before placing her hands on his chest. "I know you, Finn. You'll sacrifice yourself in a second for someone else."

"I can't promise that," he said. "Especially if you're the one in danger. You better believe I'd sacrifice myself to save you then."

"But I don't want you to!" she said, slapping his chest lightly. "The whole point of wanting that bay window is so that I can sit there with _you_. So _we_ can watch _our_ kids run around one day. I want this future _with_ you more than anything else I've ever wanted."

"Even Broadway?" Finn asked with a smirk.

"Yes," Rachel said firmly. "Hell, Broadway might be destroyed right now. But us? We're still here with each other. And I don't want to ever lose you. This might sound a tad bit melodramatic-"

"I'm used to that part of you already," he murmured with a smile. Rachel slapped his chest again but ignored him.

"Like I was saying, this might sound melodramatic, but I honestly don't know how I'd go on without you," she said. "It would cripple me."

"Even more than when the revival of _Funny Girl_ was cancelled before you could see it?" Finn asked half jokingly.

"Yes, Finn," Rachel said, rolling her eyes. "When will you realize how much you mean to me?" she said more seriously.

Finn shrugged. "I know you love me. I mean, it's kind of obvious… But I know how far I'd go for you, to save you. I bet it's farther than you would go," he said with a smile.

"Are you _challenging _me to prove that I care about you more than you care about me?" Rachel asked incredulously.

"You'd lose no matter what," he said with a smile.

"You're underestimating me, Finn," Rachel said with a blinding smile. "And the best part of being underestimated is proving someone wrong."

Finn chuckled before reaching down and pressing his lips to hers quickly and yet sweetly. His hands ran down her back before cupping her ass and squeezing gently. "We'll see about that, babe."

"Yes, we will," Rachel replied confidently. Finn smiled at her once more with that grin that she loved so much before letting go of her and walking out of the room. Rachel turned back to the window and looked out at the abandoned street. All of her worries returned.

"Damn, he's good at distractions," Rachel murmured to herself.

-glee-glee-glee-

Minutes later, she was sitting on the bench in front of the bay window with her knees drawn up to her chest. Finn and Puck were in the kitchen, studying the map they found, crossing off the destroyed streets they'd already been to. As she sat there, lost in her own thoughts, she started hearing a funny clinking noise the same time that she felt the seat under her starting to vibrate slightly.

Her brows came together in confusion and she sat up a little bit straighter, peering out the window.

Then, she felt like screaming in terror.

Walking down the street toward the house they were in was some sort of robot thing. Rachel had never seen anything like it before. But she just knew that this might have been one of the things that killed all those people. That is what scared her.

It looked tall from where she was sitting and it walked with a smoother walk than she was expecting for something made out of metal. Its head was rounded with two shapes like eyes that were currently scanning the area around it. She could see the redness of the beams as it scanned for something.

She swallowed deeply when she realized that it was probably scanning for human presence. She then saw its arms. They were both different. One seemed to form into a gun bigger than anything Puck had. The other looked almost like a cannon.

It would have looked kind of cool if it wasn't murdering people.

Rachel couldn't take her eyes away from it. She was a mix between amazed and terrified. Those feelings kept her wordlessly rooted to her seat.

The seat shook more as the thing came closer. Its red beams were coming closer and closer to her, but she couldn't move. Is this what it was like to come face to face with death?

Then, the beams ran across the house and Rachel broke out of her state of panic. The red beams swooped back across right where Rachel was sitting. She watched as the robot thing raised up its right arm. The cannon thing was turning red, getting ready to fire.

Rachel threw herself to the ground, screaming Finn's name. She covered her head with her hands just as it sounded like a bomb hit the house. A second later, Rachel felt searing pain crawling up her left arm, making her scream again.

"Rachel?" she heard Finn shout.

"It's here!" she sobbed.

Finn ran into the room and saw the entire from of the house blasted off. He looked outside and saw a fucking weird ass robot thing standing there, getting ready to fire again.

"Get down!" he shouted to Puck, who was right behind him. They both dropped just as the thing fired again. Finn could hear Rachel's sobbing even over the sound of the house being blown apart. "Grab our stuff," he shouted to Puck. Puck army crawled back into the kitchen as quickly as humanly possible. "Rachel!" Finn shouted. She looked up and he could see her dirt and tear-stained cheeks from here. Seeing her so scared literally broke his heart. "Crawl to me, baby! As fast as you can!"

He saw Rachel nod before attempting to pull herself forward. She screamed in pain and he could see her badly burned arm from where he was. "Push through the pain, Rach!" he shouted. He watched as a look of blazing determination formed on her face. She then crawled, only letting whimpers escape.

Finn had never been more proud of his girl than at that moment.

"Hudson! Let's go!" he heard Puck shout from the kitchen just as Rachel reached him. Finn kneeled on his knees before grabbing Rachel around the waist. He impressively climbed to his feet before shifting so that she was being carried bridal style.

He then looked toward the street and saw the robot about to fire again. He ran into the kitchen, feeling the heat coming off of the blast as it just barely missed him, making the wall behind him explode.

Puck was ready with all of their bags and guns, standing right by the back door. Puck opened the door and Finn ran outside with Rachel in his arms.

Puck and Finn then ran as fast as they could away from the thing. They dodged under trees and hopped over bushes as they tried to put as much distance between themselves and the robot as possible.

Finn could hear Rachel whimpering, and he knew that she was cradling her left arm, but he couldn't stop to take care of her until he knew they were a safe distance away.

It wasn't until Finn's lungs started burning that they stopped. He wasn't sure exactly how far away they were, but he knew that it took him a while to tire out, so they must be pretty far from that damn thing.

"Let's stop here," Finn breathed heavily, motioning toward a brick building with a nod. Puck and Finn, who was still holding Rachel, walked around to the side of the building and found a door. With another burst of adrenaline, Puck rammed the door with his shoulder and it flew right open. "Nice one," Finn commented. He then walked inside with Rachel and Puck followed them, closing the door behind them. He looked around and found a heavy chair, placing it in front of the door.

Puck then smiled when he realized that they had broken into a bar.

"Nice choice, Hudson," Puck commented, smiling even more widely at the sight of the bottles of alcohol that filled the shelves.

"Now's not the time, Puck," Finn commented. He set Rachel down gently on one of the tables at the back of the bar, away from the windows in the front.

"Oh _God_ it hurts!" Rachel sobbed, still cradling her arm.

"Puck, give me the first aid kit," Finn ordered. Finn then went behind the bar and grabbed a stack of clean rags, jogging back over to Rachel. "Let me see it, Rach," Finn said gently. Rachel took a deep breath before extending her arm palm side down. A nasty and painful looking burn covered the area from her hand to almost her elbow.

"It got you good, baby," Finn murmured.

"What do you need, Hudson?" Puck asked from the table next to him with the first aid kit open.

"Antibiotics and a clean syringe, alcohol, gauze pads, and medical tape," Finn rattled off. "Rach, I'm not gonna lie. This is gonna hurt like hell," he said, looking up at her. Her eyes were red from crying and there were still smudges of dirt covering her face.

Rachel took a deep breath and steeled herself. Finn grabbed the bottle of alcohol from Puck's outstretched hand. He opened it quickly and held a rag to the top before turning the bottle upside down. He repeated this until the rag was sufficiently covered. He then set the bottle down.

"Ready?" he asked, looking into Rachel's eyes. She bit her lip before nodding profusely. Finn then winced as he pressed the alcohol-dampened rag to the center of the burn. Rachel held in a scream, but he could hear her sobs as she tried to pull her arm out of his grasp. "Baby, I know it hurts, but I have to clean it. It'll get infected."

Rachel's chest was heaving, but she knew that Finn was right, so she stopped fighting him. Finn then pressed the rag to the rest of the wound as strangled sobs escaped Rachel's mouth.

"That part's done, Rach," Finn said, throwing the rag to the side. Puck was right there, with the gauze pads in hand. "Thanks," Finn murmured.

Finn then carefully set the gauze pads into place before securing them with medical tape. "I just need to give you a shot and then you're done, Rach," Finn said.

"Okay," she whimpered. Her sobs were quieting, but Finn could only imagine how much that burn hurt. Finn took the antibiotics and brand new syringe from Puck. He read the bottle before filling the syringe with the proper dose of antibiotics. Remembering his first aid training, he cleaned the area on Rachel's arm where she would get the shot.

Rachel didn't even jump when he stuck her and slowly injected the contents of the syringe into her injured arm. He then smoothed a band-aid over the area.

"If it weren't for the fact that you just gave me antibiotics, I'd be concerned that you didn't put any gloves on," Rachel murmured. Finn laughed, unable to help himself. He heard Puck practically snort from beside him.

"How do you feel?" Finn asked sympathetically a moment later.

"I could really use a nap," Rachel admitted.

"I think there's a room in the back," Puck said. "I've been to this bar before. Bar manager used to live here."

Rachel looked up at Finn. "Will you come with me?" she asked.

Finn looked to Puck. "Go on, man. I can hold down the fort," Puck said.

"Don't drink too much, Puckerman. We need you sharp," Finn said with a smirk.

"You don't have to act like my dad, dude," Puck replied. Finn then helped Rachel down off the table before leading her to a door at the back of the bar. They opened the door and were glad to see a mini-apartment with a spacious bed.

Rachel climbed on to the bed first and scooted over, still cradling her arm to her chest. Finn lay down beside her. She then rolled onto her right side and laid on his chest. Finn wrapped his arm carefully around her midsection, not wanting to hit her burn.

They then laid there for a few minutes, settling down.

"It was a close one today," Rachel commented quietly.

"But you're okay," Finn murmured, kissing the top of her head.

"I honestly thought I was going to die, though," she said.

"I wouldn't let that happen," Finn said firmly.

Rachel reached up and kissed his cheek. "I know," she said before lying back on his chest. "I just can't believe we know what's been killing all of those people now."

"Looks like Puck and Artie were right," Finn commented.

"I was hoping it was just people doing this, you know. I mean, we can communicate with them and see what they want. With these… things, how are we supposed to know why they're here?" Rachel asked.

"I dunno, Rach. But we'll catch up with the army eventually and see if they know something," Finn said. "But for now, just don't worry about it. You're here with me and you're safe."

"I always feel safe with you," Rachel murmured.

"Looks like I'm doing my job then," Finn replied with a smile, making Rachel giggle quietly.

"I love you, Finn," Rachel said as her eyes started closing.

"I love you, too," he said, kissing her on the top of the head again. Exhausted from the day's events, they both settled into a deep sleep.

-glee-glee-glee-

TBC

A/N: The war has just begun. Please continue reading and leaving reviews. I appreciate every word you leave! Happy reading :)


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: I'm having so much fun with this story. I hope that you're enjoying it as well. I know that it takes me a while to update, and I apologize for that, but I hope that you continue reading and reviewing. It means a lot! I still don't own anything.

Battle: New York

Chapter Five

Rachel wasn't sure how long she'd been sleeping when the sounds of explosions started invading her dreams. It didn't really make sense because she was dreaming about being up on stage during Nationals her senior year of high school.

Her dream ended in a flash when the sound of an explosion shook the bed she was in.

Those explosions weren't in her dreams.

She ignored the throbbing in her burned arm as she sat up, looking around the room she was in. Finn was nowhere to be found. Her heart started pounding. She jumped off of the bed and opened the door to the bedroom just as another explosion and the sound of shouting became even louder.

Rachel ran into the bar area, panicking. She could see through the window of the bar that there were two more of those alien robot things, chasing people that were shooting at them with their own guns.

"Oh my God," she said in a choked voice.

"Get down!" she heard someone shout. Without thinking, she dropped to the ground, hitting her burn against the floor. She held in a hiss and looked up. She felt a tiny ounce of relief when she saw Finn and Puck crouched down by the window of the bar with their guns in their hands.

"Stay down but crawl over here, Rach," Finn said, looking from her frightened face back out the window.

Rachel crawled as quickly as she could with an injured arm. The adrenaline pumping through her helped her to ignore the pain flaring in her arm. Moments later, she was at Finn's side.

"How long has this been going on?" she asked in a panicked voice.

"Ten minutes," Puck replied. "They took one down," he said, pointing out the window. Rachel looked to where he was pointing and saw one of the robot things on the ground, not moving.

"How?" she asked.

"They shot it through the eye," Finn said. "We're guessing that's where we need to shoot to kill them or break them or whatever the hell you call it."

"Not that I'm not glad that you aren't in the middle of the fight-" Another explosion made her jump. It took her a moment to remember what she had been saying. "Why are the two of you in here?"

Finn looked at her incredulously. "Do you want me to go out there?" he asked.

"No," Rachel said quickly, shaking her head. "I just… you two seem like the type who like to fight, not just sit by and watch. That's all."

Puck looked at Rachel. "Trust me, Berry. I'm itching to go out there," Puck said. "But your boyfriend here was worried about us leaving you without telling you. Especially if something bad happened. He said you'd never forgive us for leaving you."

"Well, he's right," Rachel said firmly. "If the two of you plan on fighting, I'm going to be right beside you."

Finn huffed before pinching the bridge of his nose right. "Can we _please_ not talk about my five-foot-tall girlfriend _fighting_ right now?" he said in a strangled voice. "The whole point of sitting at this window is watching them fight so that we can know how to beat them." They were already getting used to having to talk over the noise of guns and explosions. Would anything ever be normal again?

Rachel nodded before crawling over to the spot next to Puck, looking out the window. The people that were fighting – a mixture of actual soldiers and civilians – were using the cars to duck behind. The robot things were approaching them, their heavy footsteps shaking the ground.

"They need to move," Rachel murmured as the gun of one of the robots was turning bright red. "They need to move!" she shouted loudly, standing up.

Puck, Finn, and Rachel were helpless as they watched a car that some of the fighters were hiding behind blow up. Rachel's stomach dropped. She knew they were all dead now. The car landed on its hood, on fire. Rachel was then roughly pulled back to the ground.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" Puck hissed.

She ignored his question. "We need to go help them," she stated.

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Puck asked. "If we shoot them from behind, they'll turn and chase us down."

Rachel looked down, trying to think of something. "Then we need to sneak up on them," she replied, her eyes still on the ground. "We can… we can go to the roof!" She looked up at Finn and Puck with a smile. "They wouldn't expect us to be up there!"

Puck turned and looked at Finn, who shrugged. "It's actually not a bad idea," he said. "It's just like being a sniper. They won't see the shots coming."

"We just can't miss," Puck said, nodding.

"I'm an excellent shot," Rachel said with a straight face. "Give me a gun."

"You have a pistol," Puck replied.

"I want a real gun. Like the one the two of you have," she said, pointing to the semi-automatic weapons. "And don't give me any crap about not being able to handle it," she snapped. "We all know that a bigger gun does more damage. My tiny pistol would probably just make it mad."

Finn thought for a moment. "Fine!" he huffed. "Give her a gun and let's go."

Finn and Puck both got up at the same time and ran to the back of the bar with Rachel following behind. Finn opened the side door and stepped outside. Puck reached into his large duffel bag and grabbed another big gun out. Rachel didn't know what it was called, but it looked dangerous.

She watched in amazement and Puck flipped some switches and adjusted some stuff. "You've got twelve shots in here until you have to reload," he said, handing the gun over. "Make them count." Rachel grabbed the gun and put the strap over her shoulder.

Finn walked back into the room. "There's a fire escape that leads to the roof. Hurry before they get out of range," he said before running back outside. Puck was out of the room first, followed by Rachel. By the time she got to the fire escape, Finn was already halfway up to the roof. Puck went next, climbing faster than she thought was possible.

Rachel took a few deep breaths before starting to climb. Her left arm was protesting from the burn, but she had no other choice but to keep climbing. When she was halfway up, she looked above her and saw Finn leaning over.

"Come on, babe," he said. "You're almost there." Rachel nodded and steeled herself before pushing herself, climbing faster.

Finn reached a hand out and pulled Rachel up the rest of the way. He kissed her on top of the head before leading her to where Puck was crouched down.

"Just let them get a bit closer," Puck said, aiming his gun at the robots. They could see everything from up there, from the civilians shooting their weapons while hiding to the robots shooting out of their guns, advancing on the humans.

Rachel lifted her gun, looking through the scope. She tried to imagine that the robots were targets at the shooting range. She had no other choice but to hit the target on the first try.

"I have a shot," she said to no one in particular.

"Wait until it gets closer, Berry," Puck said.

"No. I have a shot _now_," she said, her adrenaline pumping.

"Take it," Finn said from next to her. Rachel peered through the scope, right at the eye of the robot. Then, without any hesitation, she pulled the trigger.

She heard Finn and Puck shoot from next to her, letting off three rounds a piece.

"Hell yeah!" she heard Puck shout. She set her gun down before looking down. Both of the robots were down, the humans that were still alive were walking closer to them.

"Good job, guys," she said.

"What are you telling that to us for, Berry?" Puck asked with a smile. "You took down the one on the right with one fucking shot!"

"I hit it?" she said, looking from Puck to Finn. Finn was smiling widely.

"You hit it alright," Finn confirmed. Rachel laughed in disbelief. "My girl's a badass," Finn said before reaching forward and kissing her on the forehead.

"Looks like we've got a sniper," Puck said with a smirk.

"I told you I was an excellent shot," Rachel replied. She then let out a breath before lying on her back, looking up at the sky. "Can we just stay up here for a minute?" she asked.

"I have no problem with that," Finn said. He set his gun down before lying next to Rachel.

"I have a question," Puck said after a moment. "How the hell did you think of coming to the roof, Berry?"

Rachel shrugged. "I remembered playing one of Finn's video games and thought we could try it," she said.

"But I've never seen you play them," Finn said, sounding confused.

"I did while you were deployed," Rachel explained. "It helped to relieve some of my aggression when I couldn't make it to the shooting range."

Finn chuckled. "I feel really bad for your dad when you see him again," he said, making Rachel laugh.

"A chick that can shoot and play video games…" Puck mused. "That's kind of hot."

"Shut it Puckerman," Finn snapped, making Rachel laugh again.

-glee-glee-glee-

As Finn and Puck sat at bar, drinking a beer, Rachel washed her and Finn's clothes in a sink full of cold water. The electricity might have been out, but thankfully the water was still running. Rachel wore one of Finn's t-shirts as she scrubbed everything.

It was almost midnight, but Rachel wasn't tired since she had slept most of the day. Once the clothes were clean, she hung them on a clothesline that was already in the spacious apartment at the back of the bar.

She was facing away from the door when it opened. Startled, she turned around, only to see Finn standing there.

"Finn!" she whisper-shouted. "You scared the crap out of me!"

"Sorry, babe," he said, shutting the door behind him. "Puck's asleep. I think the two beers helped."

Rachel laughed quietly. "That would do it," she replied. She turned back around and hung up the last article of clothing. She then felt Finn's arms wrap around her waist.

"You look sexy as hell in my shirts," he said into her ear. She smiled.

"Thank you," she replied. She turned to face him. "You look sexy all of the time, Mr. Hudson."

"Oh, I know," he said with a smile. Rachel laughed before he caught her lips in a kiss.

"Not that I don't absolutely love kissing you, but I need a shower," she said before pecking his lips again.

"Isn't the water cold?" he asked.

Rachel nodded. "But I can't _not_ bathe, Finn," she said. "I need to shave my legs and everything…"

"It's probably going to hurt your arm," he said. "I'll get some more gauze pads ready. Try not to get any soap in it."

"I'll try," she said with a smile.

So, deciding to get a shower was probably a really bad idea.

The water was _freezing_, making Rachel think that she was going to go through hypothermia. Oh, and her arm absolutely _burned_. She bathed and shaved as quickly as possible before jumping out of the shower, wrapping one of the fluffy towels around her tightly.

She was absolutely shivering once she joined Finn in the bedroom. He was sitting on the bed with the first aid kit open and ready to go. His shoes and socks were already off, so Rachel assumed that they'd be going to bed as soon as he was finished rewrapping her arm.

"Sit here," he said, pointing to the spot beside him. Still shaking from the cold, Rachel sat down. She winced as Finn cleaned and covered her burn again, glad to see that it was starting to heal somewhat.

"All better," he said after applying the last piece of medical tape. He closed the first aid kit and set it on the ground by the bed.

"Thank you," Rachel said, reaching forward to kiss him. Finn returned the kiss earnestly, gently pulling her closer and closer to him. She was still shivering a bit, so she molded herself to Finn's warm body.

"I can think of a way to warm you back up," Finn said huskily into hear ear.

"What did you have in mind?" she asked as he kissed down the side of her neck.

"I think you know," Finn replied with a chuckle.

"Good thing I brought my birth control," she murmured.

"_Great_ thing," Finn murmured, making Rachel giggle. Rachel laid back on the bed and Finn followed her movements, hovering over her. With a smoldering look, he pulled the towel away from her body. With a smile, Rachel reached for the end of Finn's shirt, tugging it upwards. Finn helped, grabbing the shirt and taking it off before tossing it to the side.

-glee-glee-glee-

They both laid there, trying to slow their breathing. Finn's hand reached for Rachel's and their fingers intertwined.

"I love you so much," Finn panted, staring at the ceiling.  
"It better not just be because of the awesome sex," she panted, turning to face him with a smile.

"I'm not gonna lie… That's part of it," he said, turning and looking into her eyes. The room was dark, but he could still see the outline of her features with the help of the moonlight coming through a high window.

Rachel reached forward and her lips met his again. "I love you, too," she replied, smiling slightly.

"I think I might need a shower now," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"Well, I'm warm now," she said with a giggle. "It's your turn to go brave the arctic shower."

"I would love to snuggle, but I don't want to get you all sweaty," he said, smirking.

"I understand," she said, reaching forward to peck his lips again. "Just hurry back to me."

"Always," Finn replied. He then climbed off the bed and walked toward the tiny bathroom.

"Looking good, Hudson," Rachel said, watching her naked boyfriend walk away.

"You know it," Finn said with a chuckle as he walked away.

Rachel brushed her hair and threw Finn's clean shirt back on before climbing back into the cozy bed. She pulled the blankets up around her, knowing that Finn would need the warmth after getting a shower.

Minutes later, a shivering Finn came into the bedroom. He dried himself off quickly before throwing his boxers back on and jumping into the bed. Rachel laughed before pulling him close to her. She laid on his chest and tucked into his side as he wrapped his arms around her.

"That shower was fucking freezing!" he complained with a shower.

"I told you so," Rachel replied with a smile.

"But you're nice and warm," Finn said, kissing the top of her head.

"Thanks to you," Rachel giggled. It was quiet for a while, but Finn knew that Rachel wasn't sleeping.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked, running his fingers through her hair.

"The future," she said.

"What about it?" Finn asked.

"Well, I'm wondering if there will be one most importantly," she said, sighing. "And then I'm thinking about _our_ future."

"There will definitely be one of those," Finn said firmly.

"Technically, _we_ can't have a future if there isn't a future to have, but I appreciate the sentiment," she murmured, turning her head to kiss his chest.

"I told you we'll make it through this, Rach," Finn said. "I won't let anything happen to you."

"I know, but I'm worried that in the process of protecting me that you'll be hurt… or worse…" she said quietly.

"I will do my best to not let anything happen to myself either, Rach. I don't want to leave you in any way. And I survived three years in the army, babe. I think I'll be alright," Finn said, squeezing her reassuringly. It was quiet for a few more moments.

"You know how I wanted to wait until I was twenty five to have kids?" she asked.

"Yeah," Finn murmured.

"Well, when this whole thing's over, I want to start trying to get pregnant," she said, running one of her hands down Finn's chest.

"Why the sudden change?" Finn asked.

"If anything, this whole situation has made me realize that we never really know how much time we have left… I just want to start a family with you as soon as possible," she said. Rachel couldn't see his face, but he smiled widely.

"You sure it's me you want?" Finn asked teasingly. "I mean, Puck thinks you're hot." Rachel pinched Finn's side. "Ow! I was kidding!" he laughed.

"Not funny," she murmured. Finn chuckled.

"I'm sorry, babe," he said, kissing the top of her head. "I'd love to start a family as soon as we can." Rachel put her chin on his chest and smiled up at him.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you more," Finn replied before pecking her lips.

"No you don't," Rachel said with a smile.

"Yes I do," Finn replied.

"Uh huh," Rachel said, rolling her eyes. "You can't beat me, Finn. I love you more and I know it."

Finn chuckled. "Whatever you say, Rach," he replied. "Go to sleep, babe."

"We'll resume this discussion in the morning," she said, snuggling back into his side.

"Yeah. I'll prove you wrong in the morning," Finn said. Instead of replying, Rachel pinched his side again, making him squeal.

She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

-glee-glee-glee-

The next morning, Rachel and Finn's clothes that Rachel washed the night before were dry. They changed before walking back out into the bar area. Puck was already awake, eating some food that he found in the kitchen in the back.

"If the two of you are going to fuck in the middle of the night, keep it down," he said. Rachel's jaw dropped before she walked up to him and flicked his ear. Finn laughed loudly.

"Ow! What the hell was that for you crazy midget?" Puck said, glaring at her.

"That was for your crude language," Rachel replied.

"Whatever, Berry," Puck spat, turning back to his food.

"So, what's on the agenda for today?" she asked, turning to Finn.

Finn shrugged. "We're low on gauze pads. And we can always use some more antibiotics and stuff," he said. "We need to keep your burn clean."

"Is there a hospital close?" she asked.

"Three blocks away," Puck replied.

"Sounds like a plan," Rachel said with a nod.

"Me and Puck will go. You should just stay here and lay low," Finn said.

"Absolutely not," Rachel said firmly. "I just proved last night that I'm an asset." Puck chuckled and Rachel knew why. "I meant due to my shooting accuracy, Noah," she said, glaring at the back of his head.

"Sure you did," Puck replied. Rachel reached forward and flicked his other ear. He turned around and scowled at her. "Berry! I swear… Hudson, control your girl," he said. Finn just stood there and laughed.

"Dude, stop being an ass and she'll quit," Finn said with a chuckle.

"Whatever," Puck huffed.

"As I was saying," Rachel said firmly. "I'm coming with you. You can't talk me out of it." Finn saw Rachel's determined look on her face. He knew he couldn't say anything that would make her stay behind.

"Fine," Finn huffed. "But you're keeping the big gun. You better shoot anything that comes at us if it's unfriendly." Rachel nodded.

"Let's get ready," Puck said, standing up.

Rachel suddenly felt nervous.

Ten minutes later, they were ready to go. They had their bags packed, not knowing what was going to happen and if they could come back to the bar again. The strap to Rachel's gun was over her shoulder and she tried to grow accustomed to it. Sure, she used it last night and it felt pretty good, but she wasn't completely comfortable with carrying such a dangerous weapon. Plus, Finn told her to keep the safety off in case something surprised them.

She was terrified she was going to blow her foot off or something.

They walked past the robots that they had taken down yesterday. Rachel stayed as far away as possible. In the scary movies, the thing you thought was dead almost never was. She had her reasons to be apprehensive.

Finn led the group through the streets just like last time. Rachel was in the middle again and Puck walked behind her, on high alert. Rachel _really_ hated being tense the entire time. Puck sneezed at one point, almost making Rachel have a freaking _heart attack_!

She relaxed a little when the hospital came into view, but she was still expecting a robot to come out of nowhere and shoot them.

The hospital wasn't in the best shape. There were places where bombs hit. Windows were broken. Smoke was coming out of some of the windows. Rachel wasn't quite sure if the building would last much longer, but they had to go in for supplies.

They entered the hospital slowly, their guns at the ready.

"Dying in a hospital… Is that irony?" Puck asked quietly.

"Shut up," Rachel hissed.

Their light footsteps were loud in the quiet hospital. Finn led them down a hallway, where they passed numerous empty hospital beds. The sight of them sent a chill down her spine.

"Rachel," Finn said quietly. She looked at him. "There's a room right there. Check for gauze pads and stuff like that, okay? Anything that can help clean and bandage wounds."

"Where are you guys going?" she asked. Finn pointed to a sign on the wall.

"The medication dispensary is down the hall. We're gonna break in and get some antibiotics and stuff," Finn said. "We'll hurry."

Rachel nodded before walking down the hallway, away from Finn and Puck.

She entered the room, glad to see that it was unlocked. She walked over to some cabinets on the far wall and smiled when she saw plenty of gauze pads and bandages and things. She removed the gun strap from her shoulder before taking off her backpack. She threw antiseptic wipes, cotton balls, gauze pads, bandages, tons of medical tape, and other things in her backpack before zipping it back up. She then found rags and a hospital blanket and stuffed them inside, too.

Pleased with her findings, she put her backpack on before securing her gun again and walking out of the room. The lights were off, but it was the middle of the day, so Rachel had no problem seeing down the hallways since there were so many windows in the hospital.

She spotted the sign that Finn pointed to earlier and turned down the hallway.

A sudden crashing noise made her heart stop for a minute.

"I swear, we're alone!" she heard Finn shout. Rachel quickly but quietly ran down the hallway toward the noise. When she got to a corner, she stopped and peeked around it.

What she saw made her pissed off and scared shitless at the same time.

There was a big man standing there with a gun pointed at Finn's head at the entrance to the dispensary. They were facing into the room, so they didn't see Rachel.

"Give me all your bags," the man said in deep, scary voice.

"We need this shit!" she heard Puck shout.

"I don't give a fuck! Hand it over or your friend here is dead!" the man said, the gun right up against the back of Finn's head.

Rachel leaned against the wall and took a deep breath before looking back around the corner. The man pulled back the hammer on the gun, preparing to shoot Finn.

Rachel then raised her own gun and prayed for forgiveness.

She aimed.

And then pulled the trigger.

-glee-glee-glee-

TBC

A/N: There's a little cliffhanger for you guys! Stay tuned :) Oh, and please keep reviewing‼ Thanks a bunch.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I still don't own anything!

Battle: New York

Chapter 6

_She entered the room, glad to see that it was unlocked. She walked over to some cabinets on the far wall and smiled when she saw plenty of gauze pads and bandages and things. She removed the gun strap from her shoulder before taking off her backpack. She threw antiseptic wipes, cotton balls, gauze pads, bandages, tons of medical tape, and other things in her backpack before zipping it back up. She then found rags and a hospital blanket and stuffed them inside, too. _

_Pleased with her findings, she put her backpack on before securing her gun again and walking out of the room. The lights were off, but it was the middle of the day, so Rachel had no problem seeing down the hallways since there were so many windows in the hospital. _

_She spotted the sign that Finn pointed to earlier and turned down the hallway. _

_A sudden crashing noise made her heart stop for a minute. _

"_I swear, we're alone!" she heard Finn shout. Rachel quickly but quietly ran down the hallway toward the noise. When she got to a corner, she stopped and peeked around it. _

_What she saw made her pissed off and scared shitless at the same time. _

_There was a big man standing there with a gun pointed at Finn's head at the entrance to the dispensary. They were facing into the room, so they didn't see Rachel. _

"_Give me all your bags," the man said in deep, scary voice. _

"_We need this shit!" she heard Puck shout. _

"_I don't give a fuck! Hand it over or your friend here is dead!" the man said, the gun right up against the back of Finn's head. _

_Rachel leaned against the wall and took a deep breath before looking back around the corner. The man pulled back the hammer on the gun, preparing to shoot Finn. _

_Rachel then raised her own gun and prayed for forgiveness. _

_She aimed. _

_And then pulled the trigger. _

-glee-glee-glee-

Right after pulling the trigger, Rachel shut her eyes and kept them closed, not wanting to see the aftermath of the shot she took. Finn was _so close_ to that other man. What if she missed and hit Finn? And even if she didn't hit Finn, she could have killed a person. A living, breathing _person_.

With her eyes still shut, she started hyperventilating, her chest heaving painfully. The bile starting rising up her throat as she stood there.

She didn't hear the sound of the body hitting the floor.

She didn't hear the terrified scream that followed the gunshot.

She didn't hear the sound of her gun hitting the floor as she dropped it.

The only thing she could hear was the sound of the air whooshing in and out of her lungs as she struggled to breathe. She didn't even feel it when she fell helplessly to the ground.

-glee-glee-glee-

Puck looked at the two bodies on the ground, from the dead one to Rachel, who was passed out on the floor. He would like to think that the scream that pierced the air wasn't his, but it totally and completely was. All he knew was that there was a gun pointed at Finn's head and then he heard a shot.

He looked at Finn now, glad to see that he was currently pulling Rachel into his lap and not dead on the floor.

He was proud of Berry for making that shot since he would have done the same thing if he was her, but he couldn't help but think that Finn was standing a little too close to that other dude for comfort.

"You okay?" Puck asked after Finn was holding Rachel comfortably in his lap.

"Other than the fact that I thought I was about to die, I'm fine," he said with a humorless chuckle. "You good?" Finn asked, glancing at Puck.

"I just about shit myself, but I'm alright," Puck replied.

"I'll sit with her. You go grab what we need," Finn instructed, moving Rachel's bangs off of her forehead. Finn didn't see Puck nod before heading into the room.

Finn watched as Rachel's breathing calmed. He noticed that she was uncharacteristically pale, probably from being so scared. He then looked over to the dead guy on the floor, realizing that Rachel totally just saved his life. He felt the gun against his head and heard the click of the hammer of the guy's gun being pulled back. The sound of the gunshot made him truly think that his life was over. But then he opened his eyes and saw that he was still standing.

All of the army training in the world can't prepare you for the terror you feel when you think you're about to die.

Finn held Rachel tightly, still having difficulty accepting the fact that this tiny girl saved someone as big as him. He was usually the protective one, so it was strange that things were so reversed.

"Baby," he murmured softly, stroking her cheek. "I need you to wake up." When she didn't answer, he resorted to shaking her gently. Finn wasn't _positive_ that the dead guy didn't have any other friends lurking around the hospital, so they had to get out of there quickly.

"Come on, Rach," Finn said a bit more loudly. He shook her a tad bit more roughly, and was glad when she started moaning.

He watched as her eyelids slowly opened.

"Finn?" she groaned.

"Yeah, baby," Finn said, bending down to kiss her forehead. He watched as realization hit her and her eyes widened. She almost hit him in the face as she sat up quickly and squirmed out of his lap so that they were both sitting on the floor.

"What is it?" he asked as her breathing intensified. She turned from him and looked over to the man lying motionless on the floor.

"Finn, I just… I killed someone," she murmured in a voice that didn't quite sound like her own.

"But babe, you didn't have a choice," Finn replied comfortingly.

Rachel's head snapped back to look at Finn. "I had a choice. There's always a choice," she snapped. Finn just sat there, stunned and confused.

"But you did it to save me," Finn replied in a hurt voice.

Rachel closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I don't regret saving your life, Finn," she said firmly. "I just can't believe I killed someone. What if they had a girlfriend, you know? What if they were like you and had someone like me that loved them?" Finn couldn't think of a response to that, so he decided to just try and make her fell a little better.

"I love you," he said softly.

"I love you, too," she replied with the smallest of smiles. Then, her expression cleared and she looked sad again.

"We need to get out of here," Finn stated. Rachel nodded before getting to her feet. Finn followed her actions. Rachel bent back down to grab her gun off the ground. She turned the safety back on before slinging the strap over her shoulder. Then, refusing to look at the dead man one more time, she turned and faced the opposite direction.

Finn reached out and stroked her arm soothingly just as they heard heavy footsteps approaching.

"I've got enough shit in here for the next year," Puck stated, putting his bag back over his shoulder. Finn turned from Rachel to him.

"Great, let's go," Finn said.

They all made sure they had everything before walking back down the way they came.

"You okay, Berry?" Puck asked, noticing the blank look on her face as they walked.

"Fine," she said shortly.

"That was a good shot," Puck said admirably.

Rachel tensed and Finn stopped walking and turned around to glare at Puck.

"Can we stop talking about it?" Finn asked sharply. Puck looked from Finn's glare to Rachel's frown and nodded.

"Yeah. Sorry," he said in a small voice. Finn turned and continued walking with Puck and Rachel close behind.

After what happened in the hospital, Finn, Rachel, and Puck were on the lookout for anyone or anything that could pose a threat. It was kind of hard to believe that people would turn against one another when New York was under attack, but they first handedly witnessed the desperation that disasters can cause.

They made their way through the barren and damaged streets of New York with their guns at the ready, heading to the bar which had become somewhat of their refuge. Finn was a fan of the spot since it had places to hide from the probing lights of the robots. Plus, they could also fight from the roof if they had to again.

Finn, Rachel, and Puck turned to corner to see that their bar was still standing. Thankfully, they hadn't run into anymore trouble on the way back.

They went back through the side door and Finn placed the heavy chair under the doorknob. He knew that it wouldn't stop a robot from blasting its way into the place, but it helped him have some semblance of control over their protection.

He turned around, surprised to see Rachel walking around the back of the bar instead of Puck.

"Babe, what are you doing?" Finn asked, worry lacing his tone.

Rachel laughed humorlessly. "What does it look like I'm doing, Finn?" she asked, grabbing the bottle of Jack Daniels off of the shelf.

"But you barely ever drink," Finn said. He set his bag and gun down on one of the tables before walking over to the bar. Puck stood there, watching the exchange. There was nothing else for him to do.

"Well, I just killed someone, so I want to blow off a little steam," she said. She grabbed the topper off of the bottle before taking a swig of the alcohol. She made a face like it was the nastiest thing she'd ever had. Finn walked around the back of the bar and put his hand on the bottle.

"You can't just keep beating yourself up over this," Finn said quietly.

"I really do love you, but can I just have _one night_ where I'm not Miss Responsibility? Please?" she begged. Finn looked at Rachel and could see the sadness and the fear in her features. Because of that, he let go of the bottle.

-glee-glee-glee-

Two hours later, Finn decided that letting her drink an entire bottle of Jack Daniels was a _really_ bad idea. He watched as she stumbled around, her face almost coming into contact with the ground a couple of times. Puck was drinking, too, but he hadn't quite drank an entire bottle of liquor.

Finn couldn't help but think that Rachel being wasted at a time like this was highly dangerous. What if they came under attack again? Rachel could barely walk. Finn didn't want to have to hand Rachel a gun in this state.

"You know… if it wasn't for this whole robot apocalysy thingy, I could be on Broadway by now," Rachel slurred, hanging onto the bar like it was her lifeline.

"You will be one day, Rach," Finn said, standing behind her to catch her like she was an infant walking for the first time. Rachel turned to face Finn, stumbling a bit but righting herself.

"You don't know that," she replied in a slur. "Broadway's probably gone! Those stupid intergalactic robots probably came and just blew it away!" She threw her hands into the air dramatically but dropped them quickly to hold herself up.

"Berry, sit your drunk ass down before you fall," Puck said from one of the tables with a beer in his hand.

Rachel glared at him. "I'll have you know, Noah, that I have exceptional balance. Even when inebriated," she said, her words sounding like they were mashed together.

"Not now you don't," Puck chuckled, watching her wobble even while standing still. Rachel then looked at the ground. Finn saw that her face was paling a bit.

"What is it?" Finn asked, placing a hand on her back.

"I think I'm going to be sick," she moaned. Finn carefully scooped Rachel up into his arms and carried her quickly to the bathroom. Moments later, he was holding her long, brown hair out of her face as her body tried to rid itself of the alcohol.

That's how Finn and Rachel spent an hour on the bathroom floor that night.

-glee-glee-glee-

"How is she?" Puck asked when Finn walked back out to the bar area.

"Sleeping now," Finn said. He took a seat right next to Puck, letting out a deep breath as he sat. "I honestly don't know what to do, man. I've known her practically our entire lives and I've never seen her act like this."

"Dude, we're in the middle of a fucking war. I'm surprised it took her this long to get shitfaced," Puck replied, taking another drink of his third beer.

"Yeah, but we've been in situations like this before… Well, minus the whole alien robot part… She hasn't," Finn said, running his hand through his hair in frustration. "I'm just worried about her. Especially after what happened today."

"You probably killed people overseas, man. And you're doin' alright," Puck said with a small sense of positivity.

"But I was trained in how to handle it. When we were younger, Rachel would cry whenever I tried to squish a bug," Finn deadpanned.

Puck shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, honestly," Puck said, setting his beer down. "All I do know is that you better have put a bucket next to the damn bed or you're gonna wake up layin' in puke." Finn looked panicked for a second before jumping up out of the chair. He found a bucket behind the bar and jogged to the apartment in the back, making Puck chuckle.

-glee-glee-glee-

Rachel woke up the next morning with the worst headache she'd ever had in her entire life. She could her Finn lying next to her, snoring up a storm, only making her head pound even more. With a moan, she sat up, realizing that Finn must have dressed her in one of his t-shirts last night. She couldn't remember if she threw up on her clothes or not, but she crossed her fingers and hoped that she hadn't.

Actually, she couldn't remember much of last night, which wasn't a very comfortable feeling to have. She had probably made a fool out of herself, but she couldn't do anything about that now.

She climbed out of the bed and walked over to the bathroom to open the medicine cabinet. Thankfully, she found pain reliever inside. She grabbed three pills and took them without water, hoping for them to kick in quickly. She then brushed her teeth since her breath tasted like alcohol and vomit.

Ten minutes later, Rachel was dressed and ready for the day. Part of her was also dreading another day of having to worry about herself, Puck, and Finn. Oh, yeah. And there was also the survival of mankind to worry about.

Rachel didn't want to pick up her gun and have to use it again. She didn't want to walk around and worry about dying every at moment. She didn't want to fight robots or humans that were intent on killing herself and the people she cared about.

All Rachel wanted to do was climb back in the bed with her boyfriend and forget the rest of the world.

If only it was that easy.

"How you feeling, babe?" Finn asked once she reentered the bedroom. Rachel shrugged.

"Like crap. But you already knew I would," she said, squinting a little at how bright the bedroom was.

"Well, yeah… I knew that, but I meant are you still upset? About yesterday I mean," he said, sitting up and watching her expression closely. Rachel sat down on the end of the bed, turning her body to face Finn.

"Of course I'm still upset," Rachel said with a sigh. "But I'm starting to realize that I can't undo what I did… And I don't even know if I want to since I very easily could have lost you if I did undo it. Losing you would be infinitely more painful than what I had to do yesterday." Finn smiled just a little.

"Do you really love me that much?" he asked, still amazed that someone could care for him as intensely as he cared for them.

"You're just figuring that out now?" Rachel asked with the ghost of a smile on her lips. Finn chuckled. "Regardless, I shouldn't have acted the way that I did last night."

"Are you just saying that 'cause you have a sucky hangover?" Finn asked amusedly.

"That's part of it," Rachel admitted. "But I need to stay sober so that I'm focused. What if we had been attacked last night? I would have been no help at all."

"I was worried about that, too," Finn said quietly.

"Why didn't you stop me?" Rachel asked. Finn shrugged.  
"I knew that the alcohol would give you a dreamless sleep. Like it always does. I figured you kind of deserved that," he replied. Rachel was quiet for a moment.

"Thank you for that," she said.

"It was the least I could do. You kinda saved my life, Rach," Finn said, smiling a bit more widely.

"Well if you weren't such a damsel in distress, I wouldn't have to," Rachel replied with a smile. Then, a moment later, the smile was gone. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't joke about that. Someone died." Finn scooted closer to her quickly.

"Rachel, it's okay," Finn insisted. "I know you didn't mean anything by it." Rachel took a deep breath and nodded.

"Can we just put it behind us? Act like it never happened?" she asked, looking up at her with a pleading expression.

"Of course," Finn replied. He reached forward and kissed her on the head. "I love you," he murmured.

Rachel smiled a tiny smile before sitting up and pecking his lips in a short kiss. "I love you, too," she replied. "Now, you get dressed and I'll go check on Noah, okay?" Finn nodded before smiling slightly at her.

Rachel smiled before getting back up off the bed. She walked out of the room and closed the door behind her to give Finn some privacy. With a sigh, she walked out into the bar area, closing her eyes for a moment to try and will away the headache that was stubbornly set behind her brow.

She opened her eyes back up and was surprised and confused to see Noah crouching down by the front window.

"Noah, what are you looking at?" she asked, walking forward apprehensively.

He turned quickly and put his finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet. "Stay down, Berry," he said, turning back to the window. Rachel crouched down and eased her way to the window, like she had the other night. Moments later, she was at Puck's side. What she saw made her jump.

It looked like there was a huge claw coming out of the sky, pulling the huge, broken robots off of the ground. Rachel watched as one of them was pulled into the sky.

"What in the world is going on?" Rachel asked in amazement. She looked over at Puck to watch him shrug.

"My guess is they're gonna try and fix 'em," he replied.

"But what do we do?" Rachel asked.

"What do you suggest we do, Berry? Go out there and let them know we're hiding in here?" he asked with a humorless laugh. "I vote for sitting her until they leave."

So, sitting there is what they did. When the last robot was up in the sky, Rachel turned to Puck.

"I feel like we should have done _something_," she said. "You know, like cut the line or something like that."

"Well, Berry, unless you have a foolproof plan, which that totally isn't, you just sit under the radar. You don't bring attention to yourself," he said, rolling his eyes at her obliviousness.

"Well, I'm sorry I don't have the extensive training that you and Finn have," she replied with a sneer. "It's not like they have this situation on a video game." Puck chuckled.

"Well, you've got that right," he said with a smirk.

They both turned and leaned against the front window to the bar.

Then, they heard a strange whistling noise. It sounded like it was getting closer.

"Do you hear that?" Rachel asked, wondering if her hangover was getting the best of her. Puck turned to look out the window, turning his head to the side and listening closely.

"Move!" he shouted, standing and pulling Rachel's arm roughly so that she was standing.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked and Puck pulled her across the bar room floor. The whistling noise was only getting louder.

"It's a bomb!" Puck shouted. Rachel turned away from the window and ran with everything she had, Puck still pulling her arm tightly.

Then, before they could make it to the added protection of the bar, Puck shoved Rachel roughly to the ground before throwing himself on top of her. He covered both of their ears with his hands.

The light was blinding. The sound didn't come until moments later. Rachel wasn't sure if it was her hangover, or being thrown to the ground, or the bomb going off, or a mixture of all three, but she was instantly dragged into the darkness as the bar was blasted apart.

-glee-glee-glee-

A/N: A little cliffhanger for you guys! Please keep reading‼ And I would appreciate it if you would leave a review for me and tell me what you think!


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: I know, it's taken forever for me to update! I've been sick and everything, which is no excuse! Hopefully, I will update more regularly for you guys! I hope you like the story and where it's going. Please leave a review – positive or negative – I appreciate them both :)

Battle: New York

Chapter Seven

Finn groaned as he woke up, wondering what the hell was so heavy and resting on top of him. Then, his eyes snapped open.

A bomb went off. Well, maybe more, but one totally hit the bar, causing the bed to land on Finn. He got a face full of the mattress before rolling over and trying to crawl out from under the bed. Once he was free from the mattress, he could see that the rest of the room was totally destroyed. The box spring to the bed was hanging half on the floor and the actual frame to the bed was buckled in the middle. Things were thrown all over the room and the door had been blasted open.

Finn couldn't help but cough when his lungs were assailed by the smell of smoke and dust. He was kind of afraid to yell out for Puck and Rachel, but what other choice did he really have? He wasn't sure how long he had been knocked out, and the mattress landed on him, probably saving his life. Rachel and Puck might not be so lucky.

"Rach?" he shouted before taking a deep breath. "Puck?"

He listened closely, but didn't hear a peep. Not even a cough.

He stepped out into the bar area, watching the dust settle. The windows were completely gone and a whole side of the front of the building was missing.

Wherever Rachel and Puck were, Finn had to find them fast and get them under better cover before something even worse came along.

Finn stepped over a large piece of ceiling, realizing that it was too close to the ground for someone to be under it. Regardless, he watched his footing. The bar was a little dark even thought it was the middle of the day, and Finn didn't really want to hurt anyone further by stepping on them.

"Rach? Baby, can you hear me?" he called, scanning the bar for movement. The chairs and tables were everywhere, along with pieces of the ceiling and parts of the bricks from the building. And there was glass. Finn was glad he was wearing his boots the army gave him. They could withstand anything.

Finn stopped walking when he noticed a mass by the bar. He could have sworn that he saw a Mohawk, but he really hoped that he wasn't seeing things. He closed his eyes and opened them again before stepping forward.

It was Puck.

But there was a large piece of glass sticking out of his back.

"Oh, God," Finn murmured. He stepped closer, so that he was right next to Puck, and bent down. Finn reached his hand out and felt for Puck's pulse point in his neck, praying to God that the stubborn son of a bitch had hung on.

Finn hung his head in a silent grief when he couldn't feel a pulse.

"Damn it, Puck," Finn moaned. The glass would have paralyzed him if he had survived the blast anyway and Puck probably would have just had Finn shoot him to put him out of his misery.

So was this a blessing in disguise?

No. Seeing your friend die never was.

Finn then focused and realized that Puck was kind of elevated above the ground a little. There was a large piece of the ceiling next to Puck's head, which Finn moved carefully.

He then gasped when he realized that Puck had thrown himself on top of Rachel to protect her.

Finn's hands were shaking as he reached out for Rachel's neck. She couldn't be dead. She just couldn't. He would have _felt _it, right?

He felt like crying when he felt the steady rhythm of Rachel's pulse under his calloused fingers.

"Rachel, baby? Can you hear me?" he asked again, brushing her bangs out of her face.

He knew that she couldn't. Hell, it was a miracle that she was alive after surviving that blast. Finn wished that he could thank Puck for that.

Finn stood and steeled himself, knowing that he needed to make sure that Rachel wasn't seriously injured. It killed Finn to do this, but he had to get him and Rachel out of there, leaving Puck behind.

Finn muttered a little prayer, asking for forgiveness, as he pulled Puck's lifeless body off of Rachel's. Finn was as gentle as he could have been with his former friend, setting him to the side. Finn then grabbed Rachel everywhere, feeling for broken bones or other injuries that his eyes might not have been able to see.

His hands probed the back of her head, causing him to wince a little when he felt the wet spot on the back of her head. He carefully pulled her head into his lap, not surprised to see the blood covering his fingertips.

Puck might have saved her, but that was one hell of an explosion.

The injury to her head was the only thing that Finn could find, but that didn't mean that there wasn't internal damage. But he really didn't have any other choice but to move her…

He scooped her into his broad chest and held her close, being careful not to jostle her too much. He then walked around the debris that littered the floor, not wanting to trip and cause any more damage to his girlfriend.

He carried her into the back bedroom before setting her down on the soft mattress. Then, he grabbed one of the sheets and walked back out to the bar area, throwing it over Puck's body.

"Thanks, man," Finn murmured before walking away.

Once he was back in the room with Rachel, he cleaned the cut on the back of her head before applying some homemade stitches.

He was really glad that the stuff they got from the hospital was safe in the room with him instead of being blasted away by the explosion.

He wished they could have just stayed in that back bedroom, but Finn really needed to find somewhere else for them to stay.

A building with a hole in the side of it wasn't the epitome of a safe place. And now that it was down to just Finn and Rachel, they had to be even more careful and watch each other's backs more closely.

He couldn't let anything happen to her.

Finn decided to let her rest a little before attempting to wake her up. So, he walked around the tiny room and gathered their things, throwing them into his and Rachel's bags. He then went back out into the bar area and found what he could, including Puck's still-functioning weapons in his bag.

He went into the bedroom and repacked everything, trying to make room in his and Rachel's bags. When he was finished, he wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he knew that they had to leave. Good thing New York was full of tightly packed abandoned buildings.

Unless all of them were bombed, of course.

Finn ignored that depressing thought and focused his attention back on Rachel and waking her up.

"Rach, come on," he said, shaking her arm gently. "We have to move, babe." She moved her head a little to the side and he smiled at the movement. "There you go," Finn coaxed. "Let me see those beautiful eyes." Rachel's head turned the side and she opened her eyes quickly, focusing on Finn before they shut again. "I know you're tired, but we have to move, Rach. We need to find somewhere else to stay."

Rachel's eyes opened again. "Finn?" she croaked. "What happened?"

"We were bombed, babe," he replied softly, running a hand gently through her hair. "But we're okay." She nodded a bit and then focused.

"Is Puck alright?" she asked, wincing a little at the pain in her head.

"We'll talk about that later, okay? We just have to move now, Rachel," Finn said. He reached out for her again, but she pulled away a bit.

"Is Puck alright?" she asked more forcefully this time.

"Rach… He… Puck didn't make it. I'm sorry," Finn said quietly. She closed her eyes again, nodding slightly.

"He saved me, didn't he?" Rachel asked in barely more than a whisper, still with her eyes closed.

"Yeah, he did," Finn replied.

"Asshole," she murmured quietly.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his voice laced with concern.

"My head hurts," she whined. "But I know we have to move."

"That's my girl," Finn said fondly before reaching down to kiss her gently on the forehead. "Can you get up?" he asked. Rachel opened her eyes and Finn watched as they filled with determination. Damn, he really loved this girl.

She nodded and Finn helped her carefully to her feet. She wobbled a little, but Finn's hands were there to make sure she didn't fall.

"Ready?" he asked. Rachel nodded again before Finn helped her put her backpack on her back. "Sorry, babe, but you need to carry this," he said, holding out her gun for her to take. She took it from his hands with not much enthusiasm before settling the strap on her shoulder.

Rachel didn't feel like moving one inch. Her head was throbbing and all she wanted to do was sit down on the mattress and sleep until she couldn't sleep anymore.

Then, she remembered that Puck gave up his life to protect her.

She found the strength to keep going.

-glee-glee-glee-

Finn easily broke into the top apartment of the building that was four blocks away from where the bar was. Rachel followed him slowly inside, shutting and locking the door behind them. They walked inside, placing their bags on the dining room table by the entrance.

"What do we do now?" Rachel asked, rubbing her hand across her forehead.

"You can go sleep now if you want," Finn said. "I'll keep an eye on things."

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked. "I can help, Finn." Finn stepped closer to her and kissed her gently on the forehead.

"I'm sure. You've had a rough morning. Go get some rest," he said, running his hands down her arms soothingly.

Rachel smiled just a bit. "Okay," she said in a small voice. She then turned and walked toward the hallway. The first door she tried was the bedroom. With a sigh, she took off her shoes and sunk onto the bed.

The morning's events, especially losing Noah, ran through her head as she cried herself to sleep.

-glee-glee-glee-

Finn joined her in the bedroom that night, not at all surprised to see that she had slept through the entire day. The small pile of tissues didn't surprise him either.

Finn pulled Rachel gently into his arms before falling asleep.

The next morning, Rachel was still sleeping very deeply. Instead of bothering her, Finn went back into the living room area and continued reading the Harry Potter book that he had found the day before. He had always wanted to read them, so why not now?

As he sat and read, he was surprised to hear bombs and shouting far off in the distance. The urge to go and help was overwhelming, but he knew that he couldn't leave Rachel by herself. He still didn't know if his mom was okay, so Rachel was really the only person that he knew that he had left. She was his best friend and his girlfriend – in his mind, there weren't many bonds stronger than that.

As the sun began to set and reading became difficult, Finn was more able to focus on the sounds going on around him. One sound in particular claimed his attention – it sounded like someone was trying to break into the apartment downstairs.

Finn knew that if it was a robot, they'd just blow the place apart, but after what happened in the hospital, Finn wasn't sure if he could trust people anymore.

He heard a muted crash, followed by muffled voices. Yeah, someone was definitely down there.

He figured that he and Rachel could just stay here and be quiet without letting them know they were there. However, if they decided to come upstairs, Finn and Rachel's presence might take them by surprise. That might not end well.

With a sigh and a small prayer, Finn grabbed his gun from the table and slung it over his shoulder. He didn't have the safety switch off or anything, since he wasn't sure going in there with a loaded weapon was a great idea, but he wanted the added protection. Just in case.

He quietly exited the apartment, hoping that whatever happened next wouldn't wake Rachel up and totally freak her out.

He walked down the stairs quietly, not wanting to startle anyone.

He then stopped in front of the apartment that was directly under his and Rachel's borrowed one. Then, with a shrug, he knocked lightly on the door.

He waited patiently as he heard footsteps approaching the door. Then, the door was pulled open quickly.

A man that was slightly taller than him was standing there uneasily. His face was covered in dirt and sweat, and Finn figured that he and whoever he was with had just come from a fight.

"What?" he barked.

"I just… wanted to introduce myself," Finn said, realizing how lame that sounded. "Me and my girlfriend are crashing upstairs and I figured that letting you know we were here was smarter than just running into you or something." The guy looked Finn up and down, noticing his stance and his cargo pants.

"Were you in the service?" he asked, a little bit more politely, but still gruffly.

"Yes, sir," Finn said. "Army. Finished a three year tour in Iraq a few months ago."

"Marine Corps," the man said with a nod. "Been serving ten years. I'm Derek Reynolds."

"Finn Hudson," Finn said, holding his hand out for the man to shake. "Uh, how many more of you guys are there?"

"In here," he said, motioning to the bathroom behind him. "Four of us. Just got out of a nasty battle a few blocks north from here. Lost two guys."

"Just lost my friend yesterday," Finn said.

"Sorry," the guy huffed. Finn could tell that there really wasn't much room for sympathy. Everyone was having a hard time. "Come on in. We'll let you know what we know. You do the same for us." Finn nodded before the guy let him into the apartment.

They entered a room that looked just like the living room upstairs. Three men looked up from one of the couches in confusion.

"This here's Finn Hudson. Army. He's stayin' in the apartment upstairs," Derek said, motioning to Finn.

"I'm Sam," one of the guys said, nodding. He was blonde and young looking, probably just a few years younger than Finn.

"Mike Chang," an Asian guy with a friendly smile said.

"Karofsky," the third guy said with a jerk of the head.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" the guy named Sam asked.

"I don't know," Finn said uneasily.

"Where'd you go to high school?" Sam asked.

"McKinley. Class of '09," Finn answered. "It's here in New York. Right on the edge of town."

"Well, damn," Sam said with a smirk. "The three of us just graduated from there. Class of '12. I knew I'd seen you before…"

"So you guys know Rachel then?..." Finn asked.

"We'll have time for your little reunion later. Focus," Derek said, rolling his eyes. "Take a seat, Hudson." Finn did as he was told, respecting the authority of the Marine Corps member who undoubtedly had higher rank than Finn did. Finn sat in a chair by the couch and looked up at Derek.

"What all do you know?" Derek asked.

"Uh… well, we know how to kill 'em," Finn said. "Just a shot through the eye…" It was quiet for a moment. "That's all we know."

"Well, that's not your fault," Derek said. "The radio's haven't been so reliable."

"So do you know what they're here for?" Finn asked.

Derek shrugged. "We think so. They've been congregating by the rivers and other waterways. We think they're tapping our resources," Derek said.

"You mean, like, using our water?" Finn asked.

"Exactly," Derek said. "We know there's one main ship right over the river being protected by a bunch of little ones. You know those things that you've been seeing fighting on the ground?" Finn nodded. "Those come out of the tiny ships."

"So there's really no telling how many of them there are," Finn said in a huff.

"Right. But we're gonna pick off as many as we can," Karofsky said, cracking his knuckles.

"Me and Rachel can help. She's actually one hell of a shot," Finn said.

"This ain't fun and games. We need you focused, not worried about your girl," Derek said.

"I know it's not fun and games. Me and Rachel have been fighting all along. And, sorry sir, but I don't care what your rank is. Either me and Rachel fight _together_ or we'll go at it alone," Finn said firmly.

Derek looked at Finn appraisingly. "Fine," he eventually muttered.

"Your girlfriend's name Rachel, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. Rachel Berry," Finn said.

Sam and Mike smiled at one another before smiling at Finn. "Never thought I'd see her again," Sam said.

"We were in Glee together," Mike said.

"And here we go talking about the stupid Glee club again," Karofsky said, rolling his eyes.

"Let me guess… Dave here didn't like the Glee kids," Finn said, looking from Karofsky to Mike. Mike frowned a little.

"He's actually one of the ones that made high school hell," Mike muttered.

"Well this should be fun," Finn said sarcastically.

-glee-glee-glee-

Rachel wasn't sure what time it was when she finally woke up. All she knew was that it was sometime during the night and that she was in bed alone. She wasn't even sure how many days she'd been sleeping.

She stretched and made her way to the bathroom, needing to relieve herself very badly. After that, she walked around the tiny apartment in her socks, looking for Finn. She noticed his and her bags still on the table, so he couldn't have been very far. She walked around the apartment, realizing that it was empty.

She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself and not let her imagination get the best of her. Maybe he went to another apartment to find food or something. After all, if there was a battle or something, she wouldn't have just slept through it. And Finn wouldn't just leave her by herself.

Would he?

Rachel shook her head and cleared her thoughts before realizing that she hadn't eaten in at least a couple of days. If they were going to keep fighting, she needed to keep her strength up.

She walked in the kitchen and used the moonlight to scramble around in the drawers and cabinets. She was pretty excited to find large candles and matches, which she could use to build a makeshift stove.

After finding some Ramen noodles in one of the cabinets, she filled a pan with water (that was thankfully still running) and placed it on top of the now-lit candles. Then, she waited for the water to heat up and cook the food.

She totally would have made a kickass girl scout.

As she waited for her food to cook, she couldn't help but worry about Finn and the possible danger that he could have gotten himself into. The last time he wandered off, he was almost killed by a stranger in the hospital. Rachel then glared at the candles, getting mad that Finn would leave her by herself again.

If he came back unscathed, she promised herself that she would hurt him for making her worry.

It took a while for the noodles to cook over the candles, but once they were finished, they were so good that Rachel was moaning like crazy as she ate them. She couldn't even remember the last time she had actual warm food. She ate two large packs of noodles herself.

Then, with a roll of her eyes, she made Finn three packs. Sure, she was mad at him, but it would be too cruel to let him starve.

Once his food was finished cooking, she covered it and left it on the counter before walking in the living room. She laid on the couch with her legs dangling off the side. She wasn't really tired, but her eyes closed anyway. Minutes later, her full stomach helped lull her to sleep.

-glee-glee-glee-

Rachel's sleep didn't last long as she heard someone climbing up the stairs, coming toward the apartment. She tiptoed over to the dining room table and grabbed her gun, keeping the safety off. She didn't want to fire it and let people or robots know where they were, but she also didn't want to not have a weapon in the middle of a freaking war zone.

So, she figured that she could just hit the intruder over the head with the gun. It should hurt enough.

She made it to the side of the door just as it opened. Rachel held her breath, preparing to defend herself if necessary.

She then breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Finn's tall frame lumber into the room.

"Finn Hudson!" she hissed. He turned to face her, startled. "You're such an asshole!" she said before reaching forward and slapping his chest.

"Ow!" he hissed, rubbing his chest. "Why am I an asshole?"

"You left me alone again, jerk!" she whispered loudly.

"You were sleeping, Rach. What was I supposed to do?" he asked, walking over to the dining room table and setting his gun down.

"Leave a note or something! I don't know," she said, walking right behind him.

"I'll remember that next time," Finn chuckled. "Do I smell food?" he asked quickly.

"I just so happened to make some noodles while you were out gallivanting across town," Rachel said with a huff.

"I wasn't _gallivanting across town_," Finn said in a girly voice. "I was downstairs talking with some guys about fighting. Did you make me some noodles?" he asked in his normal voice.

"They're on the counter," Rachel huffed. She could see Finn's smirk in the darkness.

"Thanks, babe," he said before kissing her forehead.

"I should let you starve for leaving me again," Rachel said, following Finn into the kitchen.

"I was right downstairs, Rach," Finn replied.

"But how would you feel if you woke up after sleeping for a while and you didn't know what day it was or anything and I was suddenly gone?" Rachel asked. Finn grabbed a fork from the counter and picked up his plate of noodles.

"I see your point," he said before taking a bite. "Sorry I left," he said with a mouthful of food. "But the noodles are good. Thanks."

Rachel smiled against her will. "You're welcome," she said. "And I guess I can forgive you. But this is the _last _time you're going to leave me without saying anything."

"You got it," Finn replied. Rachel watched in amazement as Finn ate the three packs of noodles like they were just an appetizer.

"What did you find out?" Rachel asked after Finn put the plate and fork in the sink.

"Well, they think that the robots are using our water for power or something," Finn said. He grabbed Rachel by the hand and pulled her into the bedroom right by the kitchen where she had been sleeping before.

"How do they know that?" Rachel asked as they both sat on the edge of the bed.

"The guys have seen them. They're staying around the water and everything," Finn said. Finn then laid back, folding his arms under his head to lay on. Rachel rolled onto her side and laid on his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"Are these new friends of yours in the army?" Rachel asked.

"One of them is from the Marine Corps," Finn said. "The other three are actually your old friends from high school." He then thought about Dave. "Well, two of them are your old friends."

"Who?" Rachel asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Sam and Mike," Finn replied. "The other dude's Dave Karofksy. Mike explained that he was an ass to all of you."

"That's an understatement," Rachel grumbled. "Why didn't you invite them up?"

"They were tired. And I'm tired. We're gonna go make some plans tomorrow. They wanna do a surprise attack on the robot base thing in a day or two. Other troops or whatever you wanna call it are meeting up, too," Finn said. It was quiet as he yawned.

"We're going together, right?" Rachel asked in a small voice. Finn smirked before turning his head to the side to kiss the top of Rachel's head.

"Of course we are," Finn replied.

"Good," Rachel said, snuggling further into Finn's chest.

"The Marine, Derek, even thinks he has a special job for you," Finn said.

"Like what?" Rachel asked, wondering what _she_ could possibly do that a Marine couldn't.

"He didn't really say. We'll talk about it tomorrow," Finn replied.

"Right. We strategize and then we fight," Rachel said with a nod.

"And then we fight," Finn echoed.

TBC

-glee-glee-glee-

A/N: Let me just say that Rachel's special little job won't go over well with everyone! We might be nearing the end of this tale if the story goes according to my current plan. Please keep reading and leave reviews! Thanks :)


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Here's the next installment of Battle: New York. I still own nothing.

Battle: New York

Chapter Eight

The next morning, after getting cold showers and eating oatmeal cooked over candles, Finn and Rachel gathered their things before heading to the apartment below them. They were both a bit nervous, wondering what Derek had planned for them to do. Rachel was practically shaking with nerves after Finn knocked on the door.

The door was opened quickly and Rachel was a bit taken aback by the man in front of her. He was actually taller than Finn, but his features where hard where Finn's were softer. She guessed he was the Marine – he looked kind of scary like she imagined a Marine would be.

"You must be Rachel," he said in a deep voice.

"Yes. You're Derek, right?" she said. He nodded.

"Come in, you two. We're in the middle of planning our surveillance op," he said before turning into the room. Rachel looked at Finn with questions in her eyes. She didn't know all of this military code stuff.

"He'll explain what he meant," Finn said with an amused smile. He then placed a hand on her lower back and ushered her inside the apartment, shutting and locking the door behind her.

The rest of the group was sitting in the living room and looked up just as Finn and Rachel came in.

"Hey, Rachel," Sam said with a smile. He stood up and pulled Rachel in for a hug.

"It's good to see you," she said as she hugged him tightly. Mike them stood and Rachel hugged him. "It's good to see the both of you." She let go of Mike and her gaze landed on Dave.

"Dave," she said with a polite nod.

"Glad to see those ugly ass animal sweaters are gone," he said with a sneer.

"Watch it," Finn spat, glaring at Karofsky.

"It's fine, Finn," Rachel said quickly. "Dave will learn his lesson eventually."

"And what is that?" Dave asked, rolling his eyes.

"That I have a really big gun and I know how to use it," she said with a smile. Finn chuckled.

Derek nodded before turning to Finn. "I like her," he said with a tiny smile. Finn smiled in return before throwing his arm around Rachel's shoulders. "That was fun, but let's get back to the plan."

"Yeah, you said last night that you wanted Rachel to do something. What was it?" Finn asked. Rachel walked into the dining room and grabbed two chairs, bringing them back in. "Thanks, babe," Finn murmured so only she could hear.

"Well, I was thinking of something and after seeing her, I think it'll work," Derek said.

"What is it?" Rachel asked, both curious and scared at the same time.

"First, I think you guys should know that we're planning on trying to infiltrate the ship we saw in the river headed from the city to Jersey," Derek said.

"Just the six of us?" Rachel asked, sounding shocked. Derek nodded.  
"Less people will be easier to get in and out. But first, we need to go there and just observe," Derek explained. "We need to see how many robots go in and out, and where they go in and out and maybe where they all convene."

"You wanna blow it up, don't you?" Finn asked.

"You catch on quick, Hudson," Derek said, sounding impressed. "We're thinking the ship's like a beehive, the center for all the robots. If we take it out, we could get rid of all of them."

"And if that doesn't work?" Rachel asked.

"Then we reconvene and make a plan B," Derek replied. "Since communication's down, it's all trial and error from here." Rachel really didn't like the sound of that.

"And what's Rachel's part in this?" Finn asked, not liking that Derek seemed to be avoiding this important detail.

Derek suddenly looked at the ground, avoiding Finn's gaze.

"After we observe the ship, if we see an opening, we're gonna need someone to plant the bomb," Derek said.

Finn jumped up the same time that Rachel's stomach dropped. "Absolutely not!" Finn practically shouted. "That's a suicide mission!"

"She's the smallest one," Derek reasoned, raising his voice. "She's the best chance we've got at taking it down."

"No," Finn said firmly. "She doesn't have any hand to hand combat training. I'll go."

"Finn," Rachel said softly, reaching up to grab his hand. He looked down at her and she could see the anger and the worry plain on his features. "He's right. I'm the smallest and can hide more easily on the ship."

"No," Finn said firmly.

"We have an entire city of people that need saving. Now's not the time to bring your personal feelings into battle," Derek said, finally looking at Finn.

"That's easy for you to say!" Finn shouted. "You're not the one that's gonna have to stand there and watch your girlfriend climb on board and plant a damn bomb on an alien ship!"

"Finn," Rachel said firmly, standing up. "He's right. There's how many children and their families in the city that could possibly die if we don't do this."

"_You_ don't have to do this," Finn replied. "Someone else can."

"So you can run away and join the army, but I can't step up when it's my turn?" she asked with an icy glare. "I can do this," she insisted. "I'll take a gun with me and they won't be able to touch me."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he shouted, startling her. "You tell me that I can't do anything stupid or sacrifice myself and here you are doing it!" With a glare, he stomped toward the door. Rachel listened as he opened it and winced when he slammed it shut behind him.

It was quiet for a few seconds.

"Well that was awkward," Dave mumbled.

"Shut up!" Rachel, Mike, and Sam shouted at the same time.

"So, are you doing this?" Derek asked Rachel after a moment.

Rachel thought for a few moments.

She _could _do this. She was a great shot and Derek was right, she was small and could hide. All she had to do was plant the bomb and not get spotted and then leave the ship. She didn't want to hurt Finn, but there were possibly thousands of people still hiding in the city that needed help. She didn't want to see anyone else getting hurt.

"If it comes down to it and we have no other plan, I'll do it," Rachel said, looking Derek square in the eyes.

"You'd make a good soldier, Berry," Derek said.

"She already is one," Sam said from the couch, smiling at her proudly.

"Damn straight," Mike agreed, also looking proud.

-glee-glee-glee-

Finn wasn't hard to find. Rachel walked out of the apartment and saw him sitting right on the stairs. He had his head in his hands and was breathing deeply.

"Finn?" Rachel said, walking up to him. Finn looked up and Rachel could see that his eyes were rimmed with red. Her stomach clenched. He had either been crying or was about to. She sat on the stair next to him and leaned her head against his broad shoulder.

"I know you're mad at me…" she murmured.

"I'm not mad at you. I'm pissed at Derek," he said lowly.

"You can't be mad at him for coming up with a good plan that could probably save thousands of people," Rachel said patiently.

"Sure I can," Finn huffed.  
"Honey, I _promise_ you that if we have to go through with the plan, I'll come back to you," she said. She reached out and placed her hand on the arm she was leaning on.

"I just… how am I supposed to sit there and not know if you'll come back to me?" he asked in a broken voice.

"I felt the same way for three years," she said. "At least you won't have to wait that long."

"Rach, I already apologized for leaving to go to the army," he huffed.

"I know you did," she replied. "But I don't need you to apologize. I knew that it was something that you had to do. Just like if they need me to do this, I'm going to _have_ to do it. I need you to understand that."

"The thought of you in there… and _alone_… leaving you unprotected goes against every instinct that I have," he said. He placed his hand on hers.

"Baby, I'm not some damsel in distress," she said. "I can handle a gun pretty well. And I have had self defense lessons."

"Yeah, but robot aliens don't fight the same way that people do," Finn grumbled.

"I know that. But I also know that I'll come back to you," she replied. "I happen to be one of the most stubborn people on the planet. And if I want to come back to you in one piece, I will."

"I still don't like this," he said quietly.

"I don't either that much," she admitted. "But if I can help, I'm going to. It looks like you're rubbing off on me," she said with a smile.

"Oh, so it's my fault?" Finn asked with a frown.

"Not at all," Rachel said quietly. She sat up and cradled Finn's face, forcing him to look at her. "You _inspire_ me. I'm so proud of everything you've done. You've become an amazing leader. I want to be more like that."

"You already are," Finn said with a small smile.

"Well then, this will be an awesome story that we can share with our kids when they're old enough," she replied, smiling widely. Finn chuckled before reaching forward to kiss her soundly.

"Our kids are gonna have badass DNA," he said with a chuckle.

"Definitely," Rachel agreed in a giggle.

-glee-glee-glee-

Finn didn't like the plan. Not at all.

But he had to support Rachel's decision. He was proud of her for stepping up, but at the same time, he didn't want her to do anything on her own. If anything happened to her… he didn't know what he'd do.

Instead of trying to think of contingency plans in case something went wrong, Finn decided to focus on the fact that Rachel promised she'd come back. She never broke her promises.

Finn helped Rachel make food for everyone, using candles like she did upstairs. They found tons of cans of ravioli and made about ten of them for everyone. Even Rachel ate the non-vegetarian meal, explaining to Finn that she had to build up her strength in case they went through with the plan.

Rachel talked with Sam and Mike while they ate and they told her about joining the army after graduation. It seemed like a trend among high school graduates. Rachel was just thankful that she was surrounded by trained soldiers – even Dave – since she couldn't do any of this on her own.

Finn noticed that she stayed away from Dave, and he wondered how much of an asshole Dave had been during high school since Rachel was usually a very forgiving person.

After everyone ate, Derek announced to the group that they'd head out at sunset to do the surveillance of the ship. If things worked out, they'd plant the bomb in the morning.

Finn watched Rachel closely, seeing if she had any reservations about going through with the plan. She seemed fine, but then again, Rachel was a good actress…

-glee-glee-glee-

Derek led the group, followed by Sam, Rachel, Finn, Dave, and Mike. Their guns were at the ready and Finn liked the feeling of having more backup in case something went wrong. That also meant more protection for Rachel, which Finn couldn't argue with.

The city was in ruins. Buildings were destroyed and smoke rose from the rubble. The smell of smoke and decay filled the air. This wasn't the New York that any of them remembered. Rachel thought that this place belonged in a disaster movie. Her city was gone.

The sun was continuing to disappear as they made their trek to the bridge.

"Does anyone feel that?" Rachel asked as they walked.

"What?" Finn said from behind her.

"The ground is shaking," Mike said from the back of the group.

"Do you think it's-"

The sound of a gunshot interrupted her sentence. But it wasn't any of them firing.

The bullet hit a blue car right next to Sam.

"Take cover!" Derek shouted. Finn grabbed Rachel by the waist and ran with her to hide behind a black truck that was parked on the street. Finn peeked over the top of the hood of the truck and saw three robots coming toward them. Gunshots were firing rapidly, hitting every surface.

Finn could see the others using cars as shields, too.

"Ready?" Finn shouted Rachel, putting his gun on the hood of the car.

"Yes," she shouted back. Her gun joined his, and they started firing back. Rachel's first shot went wide, hitting a building to the side of the robot on the left. But then she fired three shots in succession, each hitting it square in the eye. The crash as the robot fell to the ground was deafening. The other two robots continued on their advance, getting closer and closer. Rachel and Finn both had to keep ducking, so they couldn't keep firing at the targets.

Rachel looked up in time to see another one of the robots fall. She heard cheering coming from one of the boys and she smiled widely. The last robot, however, wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Rachel's eyes widened as she saw its cannon arm glowing red and pointing right at the truck that Finn and Rachel were hiding behind.

"Move!" Finn shouted, shoving Rachel roughly. She stumbled a bit before she started running. A scream escaped her lips when the truck exploded. The force of the blast sent her sprawling to the ground, making her scrape one of her knees on the concrete. She got up and continued running, finding refuge behind another car that was ten feet away. When she was safely behind the car, she turned and expected to see Finn.

He wasn't behind her.

Panicked, she looked near now ablaze truck and saw him lying two feet away from it, not moving. The robot continued firing, but directed its shots toward the other boys.

Rachel knew what she had to do. She slung her gun over her shoulder and took a deep breath.

Then, she ran toward her boyfriend as fast as she could.

"Berry!" she heard someone yell over the sound of bullets hitting metal. "Take cover!"

She ignored them and finally made it to Finn's side. She dropped to her knees, ignoring the slight stinging of her skinned knee.

"Finn, come on!" she shouted. She placed her hands on his face. "We need to move!" Finn groaned but didn't open his eyes.

"Shit," she murmured. She stood back up, feeling the heat radiating from the burning truck behind her. She reached down and grabbed both of Finn's arms, glancing up to make sure the robot was distracted. It was.

Rachel Berry then gathered her strength and dragged her boyfriend to safety.

He was heavier than she expected, and she moved slower than she would have liked, but they eventually made it to the other car. She made sure his body was completely hidden before grabbing her gun again.

This car was lower, so she kneeled as she fired at the robot. Two of her shots hit its midsection before one hit it square in the eye. It stopped firing immediately and fell forward, moving no more.

Then, realizing the battle was over for now, Rachel dropped to the ground, breathing heavily. She wasn't sure how long she sat there before a familiar voice made her focus again.

"Rach?" she heard Finn murmur. She turned to him quickly and saw that his eyes were open. He moved a little and groaned.

"Are you okay?" she asked, placing a hand on his cheek comfortingly. His large hand covered her small one.

"Yeah. I'm just gonna be sore in the morning," he said with a chuckle. "Did we win?" he asked.

"We won," Rachel said with a smile.

She helped Finn to his feet and they saw the other guys jogging toward them. She noticed that Sam was moving funny. Her gaze zeroed in on his leg. She could see the blood saturating his pants.

"Sam, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Bullet just grazed me. I'm fine," he insisted.

"You're letting me clean it before we keep going," she said firmly. Sam nodded.

"Berry, you disobeyed a direct order," Derek said in his deep, intimidating voice. "I told you to take cover and you didn't listen."

"Must not have heard you over the sound of the gunfire," Rachel said with a shrug. In actuality, she didn't care about what Derek said. She had to pull Finn to safety. And she wasn't really in the Army or Marines, so he couldn't really boss her around anyway.

"Next time, listen," he said seriously. Rachel nodded and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Everyone clean up. We'll head out in five."

Rachel grabbed Sam's hand and led him to the curb, making him sit down. She took her bag off of her back and searched around, finding some rubbing alcohol, gauze pads, and medical tape. She cleaned his wound, making him wince a little before she wiped away the extra blood and covered it.

"That was pretty kickass, Rachel," Sam said with a smirk as she rolled his pants legs back down.

"I just splashed alcohol on it," she laughed.

"No, not that," Sam said. "The shooting and pulling Finn to safety. I didn't think you had it in you."

"Neither did I," she said honestly. "I guess you don't know what you're capable of until you're tested."

She smiled at Sam before putting her things back in her bag. She looked up and saw Finn sitting on the hood of a car, smiling at her.

She walked to the car and joined him on the hood.

"Mike told me what you did," Finn said, looking down at her proudly.

"You would have done the same for me," she said with a smile, knowing it was true.

"You're right," he said. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "It was dangerous though. Running through gunfire, I mean."

"And I made it through unscathed," she reminded him. "I didn't have a choice, though. I had to save my damsel in distress of a boyfriend." Finn chuckled, making Rachel smile.

"I love you, you little badass," Finn said with a smirk.

"Love you, too," Rachel said with a wide smile. She reached forward and pecked him on his lips quickly.

"Guys! Let's head out!" they heard Derek shout. Finn climbed off of the car and helped Rachel down before they joined the rest of the group.

-glee-glee-glee-

"Holy shit," Finn murmured, staring at the strange sight in front of him. Rachel was stunned into silence as she crouched down next to him.

The alien ship was about 300 yards in front of them. It stood in the water with a pathway that was resting on the bridge. They watched as aliens came and went into the ship that was easily fifty feet high.

"Front door's out," Derek said. "Berry will get spotted. Everyone look for another entrance." Derek, Sam, and Mike all had binoculars, so Rachel just sat there and squinted.

"I see what looks like a chute right over top of the water," Mike said.

"Can you swim, Rachel?" Sam asked.

"Not very well," Rachel admitted.

"We'll have you scuba dive then," Derek said. "We'll hit up a sporting store and get the things we need."

Rachel swallowed deeply but nodded. Finn reached out and grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers. Rachel squeezed his hand back, grateful for the comfort.

"So we'll have you scuba in with the bomb and a gun in one of those diving bags so nothing gets wet," Derek said.

Rachel just stared at the ship, her thoughts running through her head so rapidly that she couldn't focus on them. Finn reached forward and kissed the top of her head.

"Don't make me throw up my dinner," Karofsky moaned from next to Rachel.

Finn inhaled deeply. "Rachel's about to risk her life to save everyone, including your ungrateful ass. If I want to comfort my girlfriend before she does that, I can. So shut the fuck up," he snapped.

"Shut me up, Hudson," Karofsky spat. He stood up swiftly, as did Finn.

"Knock it off," Derek warned.

"The little bitch is probably going to fuck it up anyway," Karofsky said with a sneer.

That was it.

Before Finn could react, Rachel stood up and kicked swiftly, hitting Karofsky between the legs, right in the balls. With a groan, he fell to the ground.

"Next time, I'm using my gun," Rachel warned. She heard chuckles from behind her.

"Can we focus?" Derek barked. Rachel glared at Karofsky before turning back around. She looked up at Finn, who was smiling widely.

Ignoring the asshole on the ground, they both crouched back down and stared at the robots' ship. Reality started to sink in again.

-glee-glee-glee-

Three blocks from the river, they found a sporting store. Derek rammed the door in using his shoulder and they all walked inside.

Ten minutes later, Rachel was changed into a wetsuit with a one piece bathing suit underneath. Her gun and the bomb were in a waterproof diving bag. Mike had showed her how to set it when they were back at the apartment. After she planted it, she'd have ten minutes to get as far away from the ship as she could. It was a small bomb, but Mike promised they'd see a big boom.

Sam took her other bags as she carried the waterproof bag and her flippers in her hand. Her oxygen tank was already on her back as they walked back to the river.

"Are you nervous?" Finn asked as they walked side by side.

"Yes," Rachel said firmly.

"Can you do this?" Finn asked.

"I think so," she replied. "I'm trying to remember all of those action movies you made me watch. I think I can channel some of the awesome female characters I've seen."

"You don't need to channel anyone else. You're already awesome," Finn said, nudging her playfully, making her smile.

"Are you nervous?" she asked.

"No. I'm terrified," he said honestly.

"Finn, I promised you that I'd come back. I'm going to keep that promise," she said, looking up at his face. The moonlight reflected off of it and she could see that he was scared.

"You better," Finn said, looking down at her. He smiled just a little. "We still have tons to do, babe."

"Oh, I know," she replied with a wide smile. "I was thinking about a spring wedding… You know, after we beat all of these alien robots."

Finn chuckled. "Whatever you want, Rach," he said.

All too soon, they were back at the river. The traffic still continued out of the ship, but it was pitch black outside, so they were more hidden now.

Finn would have laughed at the sight of Rachel walking around in her flippers if he wasn't so damn worried.

Derek ran through the plan with her at least ten more times until she finally convinced him that she was ready. He saluted her before turning away.

Mike and Sam hugged her tightly. She shot Karofsky a glare.

Then, Finn walked up to her.

"Just get in and get out as fast as you can. And don't let them see you," Finn said with a nod.

"Baby, I know," Rachel said softly. She reached up and stroked his cheek gently.

"Do you remember how to set the bomb?" Finn asked.

"Yes, honey," she replied. "Calm down. Within half an hour, this should all be over."

Finn reached out and cupped her face with both of his hands, staring into her eyes. He could see his entire world in them.

"I love you," he said firmly. Rachel smiled.

"I love you, too," she replied. Then, he bent down and brought his lips to hers. He didn't care that Derek, Mike, Sam, and Karofsky were probably watching them. As his tongue wrestled with Rachel's, the only thing that mattered in the world was them.

With a heavy heart, Finn pulled away.

"I'll see you soon," Rachel said with a smile. Finn reached forward and kissed her forehead. He then dropped his hands. Rachel turned and walked toward the river. She put on her goggles, trying not to drop her waterproof flashlight. Derek told her to not use it until she was underwater so that she wouldn't be spotted. When she was knee-deep in the water, she turned back to the shore. All five of the boys were watching her.

"Finn, while I'm gone, think of color palettes for the wedding," she shouted. She heard chuckles and smiled widely before turning back toward the robots' ship. She put the mouthpiece in her mouth and inhaled deeply, taking in the oxygen, before diving in the water.

Finn waited six minutes with Mike's binoculars in his hands.

"I see her!" he called to the others as he watched a dark mass that he knew was Rachel climbing up the side of the ship.

Pride surged through him the same time that fear did as he watched her climb into a tiny passageway on the side of the ship.

TBC

-glee-glee-glee-

A/N: Stay tuned! And remember that reviews are always welcome! You can also leave a review for me on Twitter ( singntheshower). Thanks so much for reading.


	9. A NOTE TO THE READERS

A NOTE:

It has come to my attention that Fanfiction .net is removing stories with "M" ratings. Since I don't want my story to be removed, I am tweaking it a little and taking out the smut so that I can give it a "T" rating. I hope you guys aren't upset by this change, but I don't want to lose the story! Hopefully the next chapter (or two) will be up by Friday evening.

Thanks for reading, guys!

Love,

singntheshower :)


	10. Chapter 9

A/N: I still own nothing! Enjoy :)

Battle: New York

Chapter 9

Rachel wasn't exactly known for lifting weights in her spare time, so climbing the ladder up the chute of the alien ship was not easy. Her legs were already dully aching from walking to the river and then swimming all the way to the ship, but she had to keep going. This job was probably one of the most important things she'd ever do in her life.

She looked up and held in a groan. The ladder was practically _endless_.

She thought of Finn as she forced herself to continue.

Her arms were shaking with exhaustion when she first came across an opening in the wall that she had been climbing. The goggles that were perched on her head were pretty tight, annoying her more than anything. Using her flashlight that was tied around her wrist, she peered down the opening and realized that it was a tunnel. She then looked up and down the ladder and came to the conclusion that she was about at the halfway point of the ship. This would be the perfect height to detonate the bomb.

After taking a deep, calming breath, Rachel shimmied into the tiny tunnel. Derek was right – none of the other guys would have been able to fit; only she could do this.

Rachel reached back and pulled off her flippers, leaving them in the tunnel. She'd get them when she came back. Then, she rolled awkwardly to the side and took the diving bag off of her back, grabbing her gun from it before zipping it back up.

The tunnel was tiny, but she could maneuver with only a little bit of difficulty.

Then, with her gun in her hand, pointed in front of her, Rachel began to crawl down the tunnel and into the unknown.

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

When she reached the end of the tunnel, she could feel the ship quivering slightly. Rachel guessed that it was the robots marching around. If the shaking got more pronounced, she would know that they were closing in on her. She pulled her gun back and peeked her head out quickly, seeing an empty hallway both ways.

She then backed up into the tunnel again and had to close her eyes.

This was real.  
This was dangerous.

And she had no idea what she was doing.

Before the panic took over, she remembered her task.

Get in, plant the bomb, get out.

She might not know what she was doing, but she knew she could do this.

Would she come away unscathed?

That was another matter entirely.

Rachel had to roll around in the tunnel so that her feet would come out first. If she went out head first, she'd probably fall and make a loud noise.

Once her bare feet touched the cold ground, she shivered, but not just from the temperature. She eased the rest of her body out of the tunnel, trying not to hit her head. Then, she grabbed her gun and switched the safety off.

She held the gun at her side, with her finger near the trigger for some fast firing if necessary. If anything snuck up on her, it would be in for a surprise. But she didn't want to use her gun; that would only let other robot aliens or whatever else was on board know she was here. She had to be stealth.

Like a ninja. Ninjas were small, right?

Walking quickly and lightly, Rachel went to the end of the hallway and peeked around the corner. Thankfully, nothing was there, but there was another hallway. She had no idea where it went. Rachel took a second to remember where the tunnel was so that she wouldn't forget. Then, an idea struck her. She took the rubber band out of her hair and set it in the corner. She'd look for that so she could remember which hallway had her escape tunnel.

She smiled for a split second, proud of her ingenuity.

Then, she turned left down the hallway, thinking that it would take her toward the middle of the ship.

When the ground started shaking more violently, she tensed and raised her gun in front of her. It sounded almost like the sound was coming right toward her. Instead of standing here and waiting to be spotted, Rachel raced quietly down the hallway toward the noise.

Derek said that he put a silencer on her gun, so maybe the sound of shots firing wouldn't be _too_ loud. When she reached another corner and the shaking was making her knees quiver, she peeked around the corner.

There was nothing there.

But it sounded like it was right in front of her.

Instinct made her look up.

The sound was coming from above her, on another floor.

Rachel was so relieved that she almost started crying.

"No. Focus," she whispered to herself.

The hallway was another long one and she didn't know which way to go. So she randomly picked. Since she went left last time, she would go right this time.

Once again, she went as quickly and quietly as she could down the hallway. She speed walked right past a door. Then, she stopped. That was the first door she'd seen. She turned and went back to the door.

On it were some weird, squiggly letters. She had no idea what they said. Also, the door was the size of a normal door – certainly not wide enough for robot aliens to fit through.

Were the aliens being controlled by something? She was distracted for a few seconds as she thought through an answer to that. A crash from somewhere down the hallway brought her out of her reverie.

She put her ear to the door, trying to find out what was in there.

It would be pretty stupid to just open any old door that could possibly have aliens inside. But she didn't hear anything that might sound like the robots or another alien. Instead, she heard a weird thrumming noise, like an engine or something.

Rachel immediately thought that this could be where everything was controlled from. She could be wrong; logic was telling her that it was impossible that the first door she came across would be the control center or whatever you want to call it.

But her instincts were telling her that this was the place. The door didn't have a handle, but she put her hand against it and pushed. It sounded like air was being released, which made Rachel jump, but the door opened slowly. Rachel immediately brought her gun up, pointing it in front of her, just in case something was in there that could kill her.

The door finished opening and Rachel stepped inside. Then, her jaw dropped.

The thing in front of her looked like the inside of a computer.

Except for the fact that it was a couple of stories tall.

"Wow," she gasped. Then, she shook her head, forcing herself to focus again. After setting her gun on the ground, she pulled the diving back off of her back and grabbed the bomb out. It required two hands to hold and Rachel cradled it gently, not wanting it to explode prematurely or something. That would suck.

She set it right by the gigantic computer thing in the center of the round room.

"Okay," she said quietly to herself. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what Mike said. _Red and green buttons together. White button separately. Pull out the yellow wire. _

She opened her eyes back up and saw the all of the buttons right by the time display. Green and red were right next to each other. With two fingers, she pushed them at the same time. The bomb beeped loudly before the time display flashed to zero. Rachel then pressed the white button and the bomb beeped again.

The timer, which was supposed to show that she had ten minutes to get out of there, flashed _2:00_.

"That's not right," Rachel gasped. "Crap!" She knew that she'd have to just deal with it. She didn't know how to reset the stupid thing. "Thanks, Mike," she moaned. But it wasn't his fault. He wouldn't do something like that on purpose.

Rachel scooted the bomb away from the computer a little and saw the yellow wire sticking out of the back. Her hand was shaking as she reached for it. She grabbed it and closed her eyes for a second. She saw Finn's face in her mind as she pulled the wire.

The bomb beeped and Rachel got up quickly as she saw it starting to countdown.

She grabbed her gun and ran as fast as she could out of the room.

Remembering that she turned right last time, she turned left down the hallway. When she got to the next corner, she had to turn right. Then, she'd get back in the tunnel and be home free.

When she came to a stop at the corner of the hallway, she peeked and saw a robot alien coming toward her. She was so focused on escaping that she didn't even realize the ground was shaking.

Rachel took a deep breath, reigning in her crippling fear, and raised her gun up in front of her. Then, she turned the corner and came face to face with the alien.

It was ten feet away from her and stopped walking upon seeing her. Before it could even raise its gun and shoot, Rachel fired off three rounds.

Each shot hit the robot in the eye.

When it crashed to the ground, it was deafening. The only thing that Rachel saw was the opening to the tunnel, twenty feet away from her. She looked in the corner and saw her rubber band sitting on the ground.

With a wide smile, she picked it up, kissed it, and put it around her wrist.

Then, she maneuvered around the robot on the ground and ran for the tunnel.

She practically jumped inside and started crawling as quickly as she could. Her knees were aching every time they banged against the metal, but she really didn't care right now.

Her gun was only slowing her down, so she left it in the tunnel and continued crawling.

After what felt like a lifetime, she finally came to her flippers. She slipped them on quickly, with shaky hands. Then, she secured her goggles over her face and put her oxygen to her mouth.

She swung a leg out of the tunnel and her foot hit a step of the ladder.

She was panting as she descended the ladder. Her legs were shaking so badly that she was certain that she would fall. She didn't know how much time she had left.

She could have a minute. She could have seconds.

When she saw the water fifteen feet below her, she let go of the ladder, letting herself drop.

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

"How long has it been?" Finn asked, pacing on the shore of the river.

"Seventeen minutes, Hudson," Derek said in a monotone voice.

"Shouldn't she have planted it by now?" Finn asked. He looked toward the ship, which was still standing.

What if something happened? What if she came across a robot while in the ship?

Finn's hands were shaking and he felt like crying as he paced back and forth. He kept glancing out toward the water, hoping to see Rachel swimming toward them with a smile on her face.

Every single second was torture.

Finn jumped a foot in the air when he heard the distant sound of the explosion. He looked quickly toward the ship just in time to see a second explosion, followed by a third and a fourth. He heard the others guys cheer as the ship started to fall into the river. It fell in big chunks, making huge splashes in the water as it fell. Then, after a few moments, the entire thing collapsed.

Mike, Sam, Derek, and Dave watched as the ships flying around all started to fall. Some hit the ground, others hit buildings, some fell into the water.

"It worked!" Derek shouted as the other guys made masculine cheering sounds.

All Finn could think about was Rachel. His eyes scanned the water, looking for her to pop up any second.

"Come on, Rach," he said with a shaky voice.

He wasn't sure how long he waited before Sam came over and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Dude, I'm sorry," Sam said. Finn looked at him in confusion.

"Why are you sorry?" Finn asked.

"Well, Rachel… she didn't…" Sam couldn't finish the sentence.

"She'll be fine. Just wait," Finn said firmly. "She's just swimming back now, okay? She's fine."

"Dude, you have to be realistic here," Sam said with a frown. Finn turned to him with a glare.

"She'll be fine. She promised," Finn said. Sam looked like he was about to reply, but he shook his head and turned away from Finn.

"Hudson!" Derek shouted. Finn looked at Derek, who was pointing out at the water. Finn looked to where he was pointing. His gaze landed on a dark mass in the water. It couldn't be…

"Rachel?" Finn shouted. The mass, that strangely resembled his girlfriend, didn't move. "Baby!" Finn shouted before running toward the water. He ran as far as he could before he dove into the water. He swam right toward her. He heard splashing behind him and he wondered who was swimming after him.

Finally, after a lifetime, he reached her. She was lying face down in the water with her air tank still on her back.

He flipped her over and was surprised to see that her eyes were closed. There was a huge gash on her forehead that was bleeding profusely.

"Rachel!" Finn shouted. He continued kicking, to keep himself afloat, as he pulled Rachel into his arms.

He reached up and grabbed the goggles off of her face gently before throwing them to the side. The air tube wasn't in her mouth, which means that she had probably swallowed some water.

"Is she okay?" Finn heard Mike shout. Finn put his ear to her chest and couldn't hear her breathing.

"She's not breathing!" Finn said, sounding panicked. Mike swam up next to him, followed by Sam. They put their hands under Rachel.

"We'll hold her up," Sam said. "CPR! Now!"

Finn had never done CPR in the water before, but this was Rachel, so he couldn't screw it up. And if they swam back to the shore first, she could die.

Finn raised his hands and placed them on her chest. He couldn't push down as hard as he wanted since he was floating in the river, but that didn't stop him. Mike and Sam were providing some resistance as they held their hands under Rachel.

Finn continued pushing down on her chest rhythmically. Then, he pulled his hands away and pinched her nose before breathing into her mouth repeatedly.

He put his ear to her chest and had trouble hearing due to the splashing of the waves, but he was pretty sure she still wasn't breathing.

"Come on," he moaned before putting his hands back to her chest and applying compressions again.

When he breathed in her mouth again, he jumped back in surprise when she started coughing up water.

"Thank God!" Finn said with a smile. "Let's swim her back to the shore!" Finn wrapped an arm around her firmly before toting her alongside him as he swam.

When his feet finally hit the shore, he stood up and grabbed Rachel, pulling her into his arms bridal style. He could feel her breathing, and she was breathing loudly like she had a cold, but her eyes remained closed. The gash on her head was bleeding freely now, worrying Finn.

"She okay?" Derek asked as Finn kneeled down on the shore. He cradled Rachel in his lap.

"She wasn't breathing before, but she is now," Finn panted. "Can someone get Rachel's bag? Our first aid stuff's in there."

He looked up in time to see Sam run over to where their stuff was. Mike knelt down by Finn and brushed Rachel's hair out of her face, looking at her head.

"That might need stitches," Mike said. "Good thing my dad wanted me to be a doctor." Sam rushed back over with Rachel's bag and started digging through it, grabbing a rag, a bandage, antiseptic, gauze pads, and the first aid kit.

"Here we go," Mike said, picking up the rag.

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

When Rachel's wound was clean, Mike said that she probably had a concussion from being hit so hard. Mike gave her stitches before covering it with bandages. Finn noticed that Rachel was missing a flipper as she lay in his lap. After she was all stitched, Finn removed the other flipper before taking the air tank off of her back. He handled her gently, not wanting to irritate her head wound if it really was a concussion.

Mike and Sam left the two of them alone as they went over to decide what to do next with Derek and Dave.

"I'm so proud of you," Finn murmured before kissing Rachel gently on her forehead, nowhere near her wound. "You're so brave." He hugged her tightly to him, not wanting to ever let her go again.

After a few minutes, Derek came over to Finn.

"We can get through on the radio now," Derek said.

"Do you think they were jamming our signal?" Finn asked.

"That was my guess," Derek said. "I got a hold of a troop stationed in Cincinnati somehow and told them how we took down the unfriendlies… Well, how Rachel took them down."

Finn looked down at Rachel and smiled at her fondly.

"Do you think it's over here?" Finn asked.

Derek smirked. "Yeah, I do. You were too busy focusing on Rachel, but every smaller aircraft fell out of the sky. Sam said he saw aliens on the bridge collapse after the explosion. I think New York's safe again," Derek said.

"Now what?" Finn asked.

"Now, we get back to the apartments. You give her time to heal," he said, motioning to Rachel. "And then, we rebuild."

Finn couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face.

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

Rachel's head was throbbing. She had never had a more intense headache in her entire life.

Wait.

She had a headache.

That meant she was alive.

She opened her eyes quickly and was met with darkness. But it wasn't the kind of darkness that made you worry. It was the calm darkness that came with the night. She could slightly see the room she was in and she guessed that it was the same bedroom of the apartment they were in before they left to blow up the robot alien ship.

The arm wrapped around her waist made her feel safe and warm. She turned her head to the side and could make out Finn's features in the darkness. He was very relaxed and his lips were puckered as he slept, making him look younger than he really was.

"Finn," Rachel murmured. She reached a hand up and stroked his cheek softly. "Baby?"

Finn moaned a little before opening his eyes slowly. They closed again.

Then, they shot open.

"Rachel? You're awake!" Finn said with a smile. He sat up a little and kissed her gently on her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Aside from the excruciating headache, I feel fine," she said with a small smile.

"Oh, hold on," he said. He got up from the bed quickly and walked out of the room. He was back a short time later, cupping something in his hand and holding a glass of water.

"They're pain relievers. It's the good stuff," he said, handing the pills to Rachel.

"Thank you," she said before popping them into her mouth. Finn handed her the glass of water, which she used to wash down the pills. As she drank, Finn rejoined her on the bed.

"Did it work?" she asked after settling back down on the pillows. Finn rolled onto his side and put his arm around her stomach, pulling her closer to him.

"Hell yeah, it worked," he said with a wide smile. "But what happened to you? You have one hell of a gash on your head. Mike needed to stitch it up." Rachel reached her hand up and felt the tender spot on her head that was covered with a bandage.

"The last thing I remember is swimming back toward the shore," she said. "I'm guessing a part of the ship hit me or something…"

"But what happened when you were in the ship?" Finn asked anxiously. "Did anything see you?"

"Not until I was about to leave," she said. "I brought it down before it could fire at me."

"That's my girl," Finn chuckled before kissing her on the cheek. "I'm so proud of you."

"I just can't believe it worked," Rachel said in wonder.

"Well, believe it," Finn laughed. "New York is now robot alien free. And Derek got a hold of some other troops in other states. They're gonna do the same thing we did."

Rachel didn't reply, but smiled widely.

"So, Miss Berry, what are you going to do now that you helped save everyone?" Finn asked with a smile.

"Well, first, I'm going to sleep," she replied.

"Good choice," Finn commented.

"Then, I'm going to heal," she said.

"Sounds great," Finn replied.

"Then, we're gonna start making our family," Rachel concluded.

"That'll probably be my favorite part," Finn admitted with a smirk.

Rachel laughed. "Of course it will be," she said with a wide smile. "I love you," she said.

"I love you, too," Finn replied before kissing her soundly on the lips.

Then, they both fell into a deep sleep, more peaceful than they'd been in a while.

THE END

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

A/N: Stay tuned for the epilogue‼


	11. Epilogue

Battle: New York

Epilogue

The citizens of New York and the other cities that were attacked would probably never be the same. Once the dead were buried, it was time for everyone to move on and heal. It was a slow journey, but Finn and Rachel were just happy that they survived.

They buried Noah Puckerman in a Jewish cemetery where the rest of his family was located. They even found his mom and sister and told them that Puck died a hero. Finn and Rachel visited his grave at least once a week.

Rachel always brought fresh flowers that she grew in their yard.

Finn's mom had survived the alien attack while at her sister's house in Toledo. It took her six weeks to get back to New York, but her homecoming was full of happy tears. Their house had survived the onslaught, along with most of the houses on their street. Most days, Finn and Rachel helped their friends and neighbors that weren't as fortunate rebuild their homes.

Finn even installed a bay window in their house, as he promised Rachel he would.

They sat there together most nights, just holding one another.

That was the spot where Finn proposed to Rachel with the wedding ring that his dad gave his mom.

That was also the spot where Rachel told Finn that she was pregnant.

That _also _happened to be the spot where Rachel was sitting when her water broke when she was eight weeks and three and a half weeks along.

Noah Christopher Hudson, who was named after the man who saved Rachel and Finn's lives, was born in the rebuilt hospital in the middle of the city.

It was the same hospital that Rachel, Finn, and Puck had broken into.

They just happened to ignore that little detail.

The baby had his father's dimples and his mother's lungs. He could probably wake up the entire neighborhood when he cried. But Rachel and Finn never let him cry that long. As soon as they heard him whimpering on the monitor, they both offered to get up and comfort the baby.

ONE YEAR, SIX MONTHS AFTER THE ATTACK

"Noah's awake," Rachel said right before jumping out of bed. They could hear him starting to whine as he lay in his crib in the room right next to theirs. Finn got up and followed her out of the room with a smile.

He really loved his son. Finn figured that he was probably the coolest kid that had ever been born.

But he wasn't really a fan of the dirty diapers.

"There's mommy's little boy," Rachel cooed as she grabbed Noah out of his crib. "Are you ready for another bottle?"

"I don't think he's gonna answer, Rach," Finn laughed from the doorway.

"You never know, Finn," Rachel replied. "Our son's very intelligent. I wouldn't be surprised if he starts talking before the baby book says he should."

"Babe, he's four months old," Finn said. "The only thing he does is almost put his foot in his mouth."

"And according to the baby book, that's ahead of schedule," Rachel said with a broad smile. Finn laughed and raised his hands up in surrender.

"I'll go get the bottle," he said before turning and walking down the hallway.

"Thanks, honey," Rachel called behind him.

Finn came back with the bottle minutes later. He was tempted to try it when Chris was first born since it kind of looked like milk, but then Rachel explained that breast milk wasn't really that close to milk.

He walked in on Rachel using the breast pump to make bottles once, too. He thought it looked painful. He was glad he was a guy.

He leaned against the doorjamb of his son's room as Rachel sang to him softly while feeding him his bottle. He ate it quickly – a trait he inherited from Finn – before Rachel burped him and set him in his crib. She sang softly to him again as he fell asleep.

Finn found it weird that Rachel sang him Broadway songs instead of those little nursery rhyme songs. But then Rachel explained to him that "Rock a Bye Baby" was about a child falling of a tree. Finn then banned the song from the house.

Once Noah was asleep, Rachel walked over to Finn. He put his arm around her shoulder and kissed her on top of the head.

"Do you think we baby him too much?" Rachel asked, sounding worried. "I mean, we don't even let him cry before we race out of our room to make sure he's okay."

"I don't think so," Finn said. "I mean, that's just us loving him. And I don't think you can love your kid too much… We could always walk in here _slowly_ when he cries, you know"

Rachel smiled up at him. "You're right," she said with a small laugh. "Let's get back to bed." Finn grabbed her hand and followed her into their bedroom.

Once they were snuggled closer together, Finn broached the marriage topic again.

"How are you and mom doing with the wedding plans?" he asked.

"They're coming along great," Rachel said with a smile. "As soon as they rebuild the church, we'll book it for the wedding. And we're even in talks with people about having the wedding reception in Central Park. Not all of it was destroyed, you know…"

"Are you still sure about getting married in a church?" Finn asked after a moment. "I mean, you're Jewish and all that…"

"Of course I'm sure," Rachel said. "It's the same place your mother and father were married and I know how much he means to you. I haven't been to the synagogue in a while anyway… And I just want to marry you. The time and the place don't matter just as long as I'm yours at the end of it all."

Finn kissed her on the top of the head. "You've always been mine, Rach. And I've always been yours," he said softly.

"Oh, I know," Rachel replied just as softly. "I love you."

"Love you, too," Finn said in a whisper. He tightened his arms around her as they drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Then, about three hours later, at five in the morning, Rachel's eyes snapped open as she heard her son fussing on the baby monitor. She threw the blankets off of herself, which woke up Finn. He heard Noah on the monitor and climbed out of bed right behind Rachel.

"It's my turn to check on him," Finn complained as they walked down the hallway. Rachel was ahead of him. "And you're not walking slow!"

Rachel laughed before entering the baby's room. She picked up Noah with the expertise a mother possesses. "But just look at this little face," she cooed to the baby. "I can't just lay there while I know he's awake."

"Well, neither can I," Finn said with a smile. He held his hands out and Rachel handed the baby over gently.

"Just so you know, he pooped," Rachel said, giggling.

"Noah," Finn chastised, looking down at his son that was too cute for words. "Why do you always poop when it's daddy's turn?"

"I told you he was intelligent," Rachel said with a smirk.

THE END

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-


End file.
